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

Tim Bynion, PhD PS 2024
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

Public Policy PhD candidate 2023
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

Sasha Silva, Government & International Politics BA 2021
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

Jason Smith, Political Science PhD, 2023
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

Aaron Stuvland, PhD
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
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

Molly Izer, BA GVIP 2024
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

Katherine Ly, Government and International Politics, BA 2023
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

Molly Reed, Government & International Politics BA 2022
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

Lydia Sigman, Government & International Politics, BA 2024
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

Ethan Thomas, Government & International Politics, BA 2024
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

Olivia Vyong, BS Computer Science, 2022
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

Ruth Wolde-Semayat, BA GVIP 2024
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

Clockwise from top-center: Andrew Strasberg, Sandra Tombe, Saarah Baig, Ethan Thomas, Nylah Mitchell, Prof. Victor, Molly Izer, Jason Smith, Tim Bynion. Fall lab participants not pictured: Aubrey Grant, Molly Reed, Sasha Silva, Aaron Stuvland,