Welcome! I am a Postdoctoral Scholar in the University of Zurich’s Department of Communication & Media Research (IKMZ). My research is focused on understanding how digital technologies are used to influence the public. This includes research into novel forms of disinformation and the use of LLMs to develop propaganda, as well as work developing interventions to mitigate their impact.

Recent Publications:

“Synthetic Diversity: Examining the Effects of Ethnic Targeting Using AI-Generated Political Ads” (International Journal of Communication, 2025) with Douglas Parry.

“Legislating Uncertainty: Election Policies and the Amplification of Misinformation” (Policy Studies Journal, 2025) with Joseph Schafer, Ian Kennedy, Anna Beers, Emma Spiro & Kate Starbird.

“Generative propaganda: Evidence of AI’s impact from a state-backed disinformation campaign” (PNAS Nexus, 2025) with Carl Ehrett, Darren Linvill, & Patrick Warren.

“Election Observation, Misinformation, & Election Integrity: Evidence from the Election Observation Group’s Communications” (Bloomsbury Press, eds. Thomas Moloney) with Kevin Mudavadi & Maddy Jalbert

“ElectionRumors2022: A Dataset of Election Rumors on Twitter During the 2022 U.S. Midterms” (Journal of Quantitative Description, 2025) with Joseph Schafer, Kayla Duskin, Stephen Prochaska, Anna Beers, Lia Bozarth, Taylro Agajanian, Mike Caulfield, Emma Spiro & Kate Starbird.

Recent Public Writing and Media Coverage:

“Scrutinizing the Many Faces of Political Deepfakes” - Tech Policy Press

“The 2020 US election shows how state election policies can fuel conspiracy theories about voting.” - LSEPP

“Fact check: AI image from the White House goes viral.” - Deutsche Welle (DW)

“As Iran and Israel fought, people turned to AI for facts. They didn't find many.” - GPB News

“A Russian fake news ring was struggling. Then it targeted USAID.” - The Washington Post

“Russian propaganda campaign used AI to scale output without sacrificing credibility” - PsyPost

“AI propaganda campaign in Rwanda has been pushing pro-Kagame messages – a dangerous new trend in Africa” - The Conversation

“Elon Musk said he’d eliminate bots from X. Instead, election influence campaigns are running wild” - Rest of World

Other Work and Affiliations:

In addition to my research, I am a Consulting Scientist for the IPIE’s Scientific Panel on Indexing the Information Environment. Previously, I have worked as a Research Assistant Professor at Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub, as a Research Associate at the UW’s Center for an Informed Public (CIP) and as Graduate Fellow for the Center for Environmental Politics and Political Economy Forum. I am also an affiliate of the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP).

Prior to obtaining my PhD from Political Science Department at the University of Washington I worked as an analyst for NGOs addressing a range of developmental challenges ranging from health and education to youth entrepreneurship. I have worked, lived, and conducted research across sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

An overview of each of my current projects can be found on the following pages:

• Information Environments

• Technology and Democracy

• Authoritarian Communications

• Politics and Popular Culture