research
My research is in social demography and population health. One body of work examines mortality and life expectancy in the United States. Another studies migrant organizations and local politics in Turkey.
mortality and population health
As a research assistant at the University of Colorado Population Center (CUPC), I work on a project on early-life mortality trends in the United States, 1980–2024.
Two manuscripts in preparation are also in this area. The first studies changes in early-life mortality and the widening longevity gap between the United States and its peers from 1980 to 2023. The second examines the effects of immigration and domestic migration on life expectancy trends across U.S. states.
migration and migrant organizations
I study hometown associations in Istanbul, organizations formed by internal migrants who share a place of origin. This work has examined how the associations are classified and organized, how they are distributed across the city, their organizational density, and the organizational cohesion of internal migrants.
local politics and brokerage
Another line of work concerns local politics in Turkey. A published article examines the social bases of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) local power, with attention to rural notables, professionals, and ideologues. Related presentations ask who acts as a broker, and examine representation, brokerage, and social capital in local politics and in the Turkish city.
methods and training
My work draws on demographic data, quantitative and computational methods, and sociological theory. Selected coursework includes natural language processing, machine learning and spatial data, big data architecture, and data visualization. Tools I use include Python, SQL, Stata, and ArcGIS. Alongside the PhD in Sociology, I am pursuing an M.S. in Computer Science at CU Boulder.