Prior to her move to the Netherlands, Julia was a policy and research intern for a New York-based public defender non-profit, The Bronx Defenders, and was also a legal intern at the Children’s Law Center of Central North Carolina. After her graduation in 2018, Julia began working as a research & editorial associate to the former dean of Leiden Law School, Prof. dr. Joanne van der Leun. 

In 2020, Julia joined the VVI as a PhD Fellow in the Sociology of Law. Her doctoral research focuses on the evolving relationship between citizens and the police in the digital age. Using the U.S. and, further, New York as case studies, she explores the sociolegal implications of the ‘right to record’ police interactions, examining its technological, societal, and legal impacts at the federal, state, and local levels. More broadly, her research addresses the intersections of law, surveillance, and digital technologies in shaping modern policing. 

In addition to research and teaching, Julia is the program coordinator for the MSc Law and Society. She is supervised by Dr. Danielle Chevalier and Prof. dr. mr. Maartje van der Woude.