At the intersection of political sociology, gender, and migration, my research examines the emotional, gendered, and structural dynamics of political mobilization in contexts of authoritarianism, displacement, and exile. Combining large-scale panel surveys, experiments, and qualitative interviews, I investigate how emotions and gender shape political participation, resistance, and civic engagement among migrants from authoritarian regimes.
I am currently a Visiting Researcher at Waseda University (hosted by Naoto Higuchi) and the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo (Masaaki Higashijima). In Jan. 2027, I will join the Davis Center at Harvard University as a Fellow. I am completing my PhD in Political Science and Sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore under the supervision of MartÃn Portos and Lorenzo Zamponi.
I am a Co-I. of OutRush, a global panel study of more than 30,000 post-2022 Russian emigrants. Project findings have been featured in international media including The New York Times, Financial Times, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, BBC, and Meduza. I also serve as a Co-I. of Democracy in Exile (DemEx), an NSF-funded project examining the long-term consequences of political displacement and migration, and lead The Science of Dreams, which explores wartime dream narratives as a lens into collective memory, emotion, and identity. Previously, I worked as an expert on Russian migration for the European Commission.
My research has appeared in Communist and Post-Communist Studies, The February Journal, and the Russian Analytical Digest, while my public-facing work has been published in outlets including Republic, Paper, and Posle.media. I am also a regular commentator and podcast guest for Russian and international media, including Meduza and SBS Radio. I hold an MA and a BA in Sociology from the European University at St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk State University.