Brianna is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Michigan (expected August 2026) in the Department of Communication and Media and the Summer 2026 International Research Policy Intern at Ithaka S+R. Her dissertation research focuses how interpersonal, group, and parasocial relationships in U.S. politics affect public opinion and political attitudes, with an emphasis on how these relationships are affected by an increasingly media-like political system.

Her other work has explored partisanship and attributions of blame for interparty hostility, the politicization of science and scientists, and the reasons behind non-adoption of pro-social health behaviors in the Covid-19 Pandemic. She is also conducting ongoing research on the implications of generative AI use in surveys and on the efficacy and limitations of interventions meant to shift group-level perceptions of police-involved shootings, as part of a multi-site, multi-study project in the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, funded by the Russell Sage Foundation.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Daemen University (Amherst, NY) and her master’s degree in communication from The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH).