I am an associate professor of social work in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Originally from Fresno, California, I am an Irish citizen who has lived in Finland for over 25 years. My research has evolved from multicultural social work and care in the field of HIV towards themes related to decolonization. I teach courses on international and structural social work, and supervise master's theses and doctoral dissertations. 

I received my bachelor of arts in English literature from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, USA. I completed a master's of social science in International Relations at the University of Tampere. I received a licentiate and doctor of social science in social work at the University of Tampere.

My research interests center on decolonization, structural social work, and the significance of place and social memory. I have been particularly interested in how concepts of professionalism have emerged in local contexts historically. I recently completed a book in collaboration with Michael Yellow Bird, Decolonizing Pathways towards Integrative Healing in Social Work (Routledge, 2020). I am further developing my interests in decolonizing social work practice through research on the significance of animals and nature in healing. I am also collaborating on a project that employs critical race analyses of the carceral state to explore how civic space and conceptions of community have been reconfigured through a case study in Fresno, California.