I am Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. My research focuses on American political institutions, with an emphasis on the United States Congress. I teach courses on the American political process, the presidency, Congress, US institutional reform, state and local politics, and research methods. Before coming to UNR, I was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. I received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in Distributed Studies from the University of Colorado.