Political Science

Niamh is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in American Politics at Brown University. Her research focuses broadly on public policy, education governance, and the politics of administrative capacity. Her dissertation examines how public-sector unions shape the organization of government, including decisions about outsourcing and the balance between internal public capacity and external provision. Her recent research has focused on teacher unions, state education governance, and the role of collective bargaining institutions across federal, state, and local contexts. She is also a Doctoral Student Researcher with Brown’s Realizing Rights Lab, where she works on projects related to education governance and administrative access. Prior to attending Brown, Niamh served as a City Year AmeriCorps member in Detroit, where she provided small-group academic support to third-grade students. She holds an M.A. in Political Science from Brown University and a B.A. in Political Science, with a minor in Classical Civilization, from Boston University.