George Mason University

Politics Research Lab

My politics research lab hosts a select group of graduate and undergraduate students each semester who serve as my research assistants, teaching assistants, mentees, or coauthors. We have lab meetings every Friday at 4pm.

Students who are already organized to work with me in an advisee or research capacity are required to participate in Research Lab and should complete the registration form below. Students who would like to apply to participate in some capacity may complete an application for Fall 2022 semester:

Application/Registration to participate in Fall 2022 Politics Research Lab

 

Spring 2022 Politics Research Lab participants

Graduate Students (**on market**)

Tim Bynion tbynion@gmu.edu

Political Science PhD, 2024

Lab projects: Coursework stage, studying for comps this semester

Research interests: Congress, negative partisanship, identity

Personal interests: Football, tennis, piano, trivia

 

 

 

 

Christine German

Political Science PhD, 2023

Lab Projects: PhD dissertation

Research Interests: extremism, terrorism, gender, authoritarianism

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aubrey Grant, agrant12@gmu.edu

Lab Projects: Ph.D. dissertation writing

Research Interests: immigration, refugee resettlement, networks, gender, public policy

Personal Interests: travel, reading, running, cooking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sasha Silva ssilva4@gmu.edu

Lab Projects: Co-author paper on congressional campaign finance networks with Prof. Victor

Research Interests: Financial networks & intraparty factions in Congress, populism & nativism in the Americas, and constitutional law.

Personal Interests: Lacrosse, Netflix, pop culture, travel and being an aspiring D.C. foodie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason Smith, jsmit28@gmu.edu

Political Science, PhD, 2023

Lab Projects: PhD dissertation

Research Interests: Congress, executive, separation of powers, domestic policy effects on foreign affairs, national security

Personal Interets: biking, reading, movies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Aaron Stuvland**  astuvland.gmu@gmail.com

Political Science PhD, 2021

Lab projects: Dissertation research accountability

Research interests: Populism/extremism, parties/party systems, religion and politics

Personal interests: Distance running, biking, food and wine

 

 

 

 

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Undergraduate Students

Saarah Baig,  sbaig20@gmu.edu

Government and International Politics, BA, 2024

Lab projects: Congressional caucus data collection or management

Research interests: Political behavior, identity politics, polarization, political socialization, political strategies

Other interests: Writing, reading, civic engagement, interfaith work

 

 

 

 

Matthew Hanks mhanks4@gmu.edu

Government and International Politics, BA, 2022

Lab projects: Connecting Congress (book manuscript support)

Research interests: Congressional and national polarization

Personal interests: Getting enough sleep, and the gym

 

 

 

 

 

Audrey Hayes

Lab Projects:

Research Interests:

Personal Interests:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Molly Izer, mizer@gmu.edu

Government and International Politics, BA, 2024

Lab Projects: Caucus data collection, caucus persistence

Research Interests: congress, judiciary, judicial philosophy, constitutional law

Personal Interests: speech, debate, activism, music

 

 

 

Katherine Ly

Government & International Politics, BA 2023

Lab projects: Congressional caucus data collection or management

Research interests: I would like to learn how individuals address mutual concerns with other members in congressional caucuses.

Personal interests: I like to travel, sleep, and listen to different songs when I am walking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nylah Mitchell, nmitch2@gmu.edu

Government & International Politics BA, 2025

Lab Projects: Congressional caucus data collection or management

Research Interests: Elections, U.S. Congress, media & politics

Personal Interests: book shopping, reading, and watching reality shows

 

 

 

 

 

Molly Reed

Lab Projects: Undergraduate Honors Thesis, “The Gun Gridlock”

Research Interests: U.S. Congress & Legislative Behavior, Political Polarization & Partisanship, Criminal Justice Reform

Personal Interests: Travel, Art, History, and National Parks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lydia Sigman lsigman@gmu.edu 

Government and International Politics, BA, 2024

Lab projects: Congressional caucus data collection and management

Research interests: I’m interested in American government, particularly the interactions between state / local governments and the federal government.

Personal interests: I love black coffee and I like collecting coffee mugs. I am interested in film photography and collecting old cameras that I’m sure I’ll have time to fix sooner or later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Strasberg astrasbe@gmu.edu

Public Administration, BS, 2023

Lab projects: Congressional caucus data collection or management

Research interests: Methodology, Political Behavior, Populism, Nationalism, Violence

Personal interests: Refereeing and watching soccer (I’m a Tottenham Hotspur fan)

 

 

 

 

 

Ethan Thomas ethoma9@gmu.edu

Government & International Politics, 2024

Lab Projects: Congressional caucus data collection or management

Research Interests: Congress, Congressional Voting Behavior, Elections, & Constitutional Law

Personal Interests: Baseball (I’m a Red Sox fan), Running, Gaming, & Weather

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olivia Vuong mvuong5@gmu.edu

Computer Science, B.S., May 2022

Lab projects: Congressional database

Research interests: Databases, SQL, creating a functional and efficient RDBMS

Personal interests: Running, hiking, coffee, linguistics, NLP, ML/AI, historical fiction

 

 

 

 

Ruth Wolde-Semayat rwoldes@gmu.edu

Government and International Politics, BA, 2024

Lab projects: Congressional caucus data collection or management

Research interests: Congress, Global Warming and Law

Personal interests: Hiking and biking

 

 

 

 

Fall 2021 Victor Lab Participants