Doctoral Students

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Jacob Balzarini is a PhD student in Northeastern University’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. His work bridges research, teaching, and community engagement—focusing on the timing and structure of incarceration and the complexities of reen…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Julia Bell is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds a B.S. in Psychology and Sociology with a concentration in Social and Criminal Justice from Central Michigan University, and a M….

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Ciela Capage is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. Her research interests center around communities and place, with a focus on the intersections of race, gender, crime, and policing. Since…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Oghenerhuru Daniel is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University at Albany (SUNY) and an MSc in International Social and Publi…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Cassie DiBenedetti is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds a B.S. in Data Science from Duquesne University. She was actively involved in the Duquesne community to address Asian Ame…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Megan Di Russo is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds an A.A. in Psychology from Miami Dade College and a B.A. in Sociology Honors with a Notation in Cultural Rhetoric from Stanfo…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Mallory Ferrick is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds an M.S. and a B.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of New Haven. Her research interests include community responses …

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Kaley Jones is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds an M.S. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Northeastern University and a B.S. in Criminal Justice from the University of N…

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Mo Keane (they/them) is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, whose research interests include the experiences of marginalized identities/persons within the criminal justice system and the role of institutions in defin…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Christian Law is a doctoral student at Northeastern University in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. His research and teaching interests center on the intersections of race, crime, politics, and punishment. Specifically, he examines how …

Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy

Kayon Morgan is a Ph.D. student in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy at Northeastern University. Her research interests are centered around Race, Crime, Justice, and Policing. She is interested in how race shapes health, violence and victimizat…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Delanie Nahikian is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds B.A.’s in Criminology, Sociology, and Psychology from Capital University. She currently works as a research assistant…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Oscar Navarro-Alvarez is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. His research interests include barriers to reentry and desistance among gangs and other hidden populations. He is a graduate res…

Criminology and Criminal Justice

Ayiana Newcombe is a Ph.D. student in the school of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. Her research interests involve experimentation within prisons, reentry post-incarceration and policing. She joined Northeastern in the Fa…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Christianna Palermo is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds an M.A. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University–Newark and a B.A. in Sociology from the University at Albany, SUNY. …

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Heather Paterson is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds a B.S. in Neuroscience from Tulane University and, prior to her doctoral candidacy, spent three years working as a clinical…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Cassidy Pereira is a doctoral student in the Criminology and Justice Policy Program at Northeastern University. She recently received her Master’s Degree at Northeastern, and completed her Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Dartmouth in 2017. Bef…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Jillian Reeves received her bachelor’s degree in criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, with minors in psychology and Chinese studies. Prior to her doctoral candidacy, she co-authored a journal article about the role of adolescent developme…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Savannah Reid is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. She holds an M.S. in Criminal Justice from George Mason University and a B.A. in Communications from the University of Tennessee at Chat…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Michel-Ange is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. His research interests are in the areas of punishment, prison abolition, and reentry. Since arriving at Northeastern, Michel-Ange has work…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Daniel Trovato is a doctoral student in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University. His research interests include the outcomes of school suspension and expulsion over the life-course, and the outcomes of perceived disc…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Joanna Wahmhoff is a Ph.D. student in Criminology and Justice Policy at Northeastern University. Her research interests encompass reentry post-incarceration, with a specific focus on collateral consequences and their interplay with poverty. She joine…

Criminology and Justice Policy, PhD

Amelia is a doctoral student at Northeastern University in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Originally from New Mexico, she holds a Master’s in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Northeastern. Previously, Amelia graduated with…

PhD in Criminology and Justice Policy

Stephen is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Human Exploitation and Resilience program at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management. He received his Ph.D. from Northeastern University’s School of Criminology and Criminal Justice where his dissertation focused on work and labor-related victimization, particularly the victimization of marginalized workers.

PhD in Criminology and Justice Policy

Matthew Kafafian is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at George Washington University. His research interests broadly explore the causes and consequences of crime and victimization. One strand of his research explores risk and vulnerability to minor sex trafficking. In doing so, he works closely with community agencies and partners with the goal of translating research to policy and practice.

PhD in Criminology and Justice Policy

Dr. Riley Tucker is an Assistant Professor in Criminology and Sociology. Prior to joining Penn State, he earned his PhD in Criminology and Justice Policy at Northeastern University and served as a Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Mansueto Institute for Innovation and Data Science Institute. His work has been published in venues such as Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, and Scientific Data.

PhD in Criminology and Justice Policy

Sarah Lockwood is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the USF St Petersburg campus. She received her B.A. in both Criminology and Psychology from USF, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Criminology and Justice Policy from Northeastern University. Her research centers on the impact of victimization on individual outcomes, with emphasis on how victims intersect with formal institutions such as police and health care providers.

PhD in Criminology and Justice Policy

Dr. Madison Gerdes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Montana. She received her Ph.D. in Criminology and Justice Policy from Northeastern University in 2024. Her dissertation utilized computational methods to examine the framing of mass public shootings by politicians, the press, and the public. She is especially interested in the use of computational methods to answer sociological and criminological questions. Her work has appeared in journals such as Social Science and Medicine, Homicide Studies, The Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Frontiers in Psychiatry.