Sophia earned her B.A. at the University of California, San Diego (2002), and will defend her dissertation in August 2009 at Cornell University. Her dissertation entitled "Beyond Roll Call Votes: Latino Representation in the 108^th -110^th Sessions of the U.S. House of Representatives" examines whether Latino constituents need Latino members of Congress to achieve the most representation. Currently she is working on several projects including work on Latino representation, English only legislation and transfers of campaign money between House members.

Areas of specialization

Racial and ethnic politics, legislative politics, U.S. Congress, Latino politics, and immigration politics.