I am Associate Professor of Political Science 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.