I hold a PhD in ethnomusicology from UC Berkeley (2010). I was trained as an ethnographer & music scholar and conducted fieldwork in Cuba for a decade in the cities of Havana, Matanzas, and Santiago. My academic research focused on a range of Afro-Cuban folkloric and popular musical practices, including rumba, timba, son, and folklore oriental (eastern Cuban folklore), and the ways they are impacted by notions of race and place in contemporary Cuba. I spent 10 months on the island in 2006 and 2007, during which time I established relationships with dozens of musicians and groups, networked with local scholars and state cultural officials, and conducted archival research at various Cuban institutions. Since then, I have returned for several shorter research trips.

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