I am currently Associate Professor and Department Chair of Sociology at The Catholic University of America, where I also direct the Institutional Flourishing Lab. I hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Management from St. Francis Xavier University and HEC Montreal respectively, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame.

My research (see CV here) has been published in journals such as Social Problems, Social Forces, Sociology of Religion, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, and Journal of the American Academy of Religion. I am also author of Mercenaries and Missionaries: Capitalism and Catholicism in the Global South (Cornell University Press, 2019), and co-author of Secularity and Science: What Scientists Around the World Really Think About Religion (Oxford University Press, 2019).

My work examines the role of culture in religious, economic, and scientific institutions around the world. Drawing on a wide range of methodologies—surveys, interviews, ethnography, experiments, and archival research—I examine how cultural and institutional factors shape mental health and well-being. I am currently working on projects that examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religious and scientific organizations,the role of aesthetics and spirituality among scientists, and the relationship between innovation and religion.

I am also the founder of Beauty At Work, a project which includes a blog, YouTube channel, and podcast exploring how beauty can both foster and inhibit our flourishing in a variety of domains, such as science, food, business, religion, justice, and more. Learn more below.