Affiliate Members

Sydney Ingel (she/her) received her B.A. in Criminal Justice & Psychology from Quinnipiac University and her M.A. in Criminology, Law & Society from George Mason University. She is currently a 7th-year PhD student (ABD status) in George Mason’s Criminology, Law & Society department. She is currently working on a MacArthur grant funded project that involves surveys and interviews with pretrial defendants in Indiana. Additionally, she is working on a systematic review of pretrial needs. Her research interests revolve around: qualitative research, jails, and prisons. Outside of work, her interests include reading, spending time with her dog, and watching copious amounts of TV. 

Spencer G. Lawson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor within the Law & Psychiatry Program in the Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC) at UMass Chan Medical School. Dr. Lawson is also an affiliate member of the EJS Lab. He received a Ph.D. in criminal justice from Michigan State University. Dr. Lawson’s career mission is to manage and prevent behavioral health conditions among people across multiple points in the criminal justice system through implementation and deployment-focused research of data-driven risk screening and assessment and risk-need-responsivity approaches. He has used multiple research methodologies such as community-based participatory research approaches, systematic reviews, and observational studies that include integrating large data systems to conduct a number of sophisticated statistical strategies. Currently, Dr. Lawson is a W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow and Principal Investigator on an early career award from the National Institute of Justice to work with the Massachusetts Department of Correction on assessing racial and ethnic disparities within their objective prison classification system. 

Carmen Diaz, PhD, is a Senior Research Analyst at the Kansas Sentencing Commission and an affiliate member of the EJS Lab. She earned her PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Indiana University Bloomington. As an affiliate member of the EJS Lab, Carmen has collaborated on research investigating the effects of pretrial risk assessments in practice, the long-term impact of probation revocations on future criminal justice involvement, and criminal justice stakeholders’ views on racial disparities. At the Kansas Sentencing Commission she works with judges, legislators, attorneys, and other practitioners to support fair and effective sentencing in Kansas through data-driven and evidence-based decision-making. Carmen is an applied researcher with experience designing and conducting quantitative and mixed-methods research studies. Prior to joining the Kansas Sentencing Commission she worked as a co-investigator and research assistant on six grants and contracts funded by the National Institute of Justice, Arnold Ventures, and local agencies. Her recent work has appeared in the Journal of Criminal Justice, the Journal of Experimental Criminology, Corrections, and Crime & Delinquency. 

Ashley E. Rodriguez is a second-year criminology doctoral student at the Pennsylvania State University and an affiliate EJS Lab member. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University (GMU). Her research interests focus on judicial decision-making, courtroom workgroups, pretrial processing and outcomes, and disparities in the criminal-legal system. Previously as an EJS Lab member, Ashley assisted with projects on systemic racism in the criminal justice system, pretrial risk assessment validations, pretrial sanctions and incentives, and racial disparities in pretrial supervision. Outside of the EJS Lab, Ashley participated in a National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the University of South Carolina where she studied disparities in virtual bond hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, GMU’s Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR) funded Ashley’s study on risk perception and communication from the perspective of pretrial court actors. 

Rafi (he/him) graduated from Georgetown in 2023 with a BA in Psychology, with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors. As an undergraduate student, Rafi's research interests grew to focus on the intersection between psychology and the legal system, and he authored an honors thesis on the use of videoconferencing for criminal pretrial hearings. In addition to his research interests, Georgetown fostered a love for teaching, and Rafi is spending the 2023-24 academic year as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Berlin, Germany. Meanwhile, Rafi is assisting the Early Justice Strategies lab with its peer recovery services project. When he's not working, Rafi is thinking primarily about food—both cooking and eating it. Rafi has uncovered a haven for vegan fast food in Berlin, and most of his extra dollars are directed there. He also enjoys running and rock climbing, both of which reduce the stress of the masters applications he's submitting this year. He hopes to earn a masters in criminology and pursue a career in academia. If that doesn't work out, Rafi might fall back on his COVID hobby as a career: Rubik's speedcubing. 

Sydney Reuter is a master’s graduate from George Mason University’s Department of Criminology, Law and Society. In the EJS lab, Sydney’s focus is on criminal-legal processing and judicial decision making. As a prospective PhD student, her research interests include drug enforcement, criminal networks, and crime analysis. When not working on her research, Sydney enjoys cooking and baking, crocheting, and working out.