About Me

Hi, I’m Maya (pronounced May-uh)! I am a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Political Science and Social Data Analytics at Penn State University. I also hold an M.A. in Political Science from Penn State University and a B.A. in Politics and International Affairs from Wake Forest University. I am a recipient of the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) from the National Science Foundation.

My academic and applied research experience centers on advanced quantitative methods, statistical modeling, and machine learning applied to complex, real-world systems. I am proficient in Python (including Tensorflow, PyTorch, and Scikit-learn) and R, with extensive experience in model development, validation, time series analysis, performance evaluation, and working with large, noisy datasets. My work emphasizes reproducible, well-documented analytical pipelines and the translation of research models into reliable, decision-support tools.

I’m passionate about solving problems which benefit others. Previously, I worked as a graduate intern for the National Endowment for the Humanities (2024) and for the United States Government as an Analytical Methodologist (2025). My research uses a variety of quantitative techniques to investigate the causes and effects of electoral violence. In my dissertation I examine this topic from three angles: (1) predicting civilian violent contention during elections; (2) investigating the latent network structure of perpetrators of electoral violence; and (3) probing the relationship between gender quotas and electoral violence.

Browse my site to see all that I have to offer, download my CV, and contact me for further inquiries!