I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame. My research examines how new populations integrate into host societies, examining both the individual-level factors that shape intergroup cooperation and the institutional structures that condition public opinion on immigration. 

My first line of research investigates the micro-foundations of intergroup cooperation by examining when and why individuals choose to cooperate with or discriminate against the outgroup. My dissertation project focuses on farmer groups in Uganda that bring refugees and host communities together and how even though those who self-select into these groups are less prejudiced, they are not necessarily more willing to cooperate with the outgroup. 

My second line of research explores how the institutional context in understudied countries shapes natives' attitudes toward immigration policy. Using Singapore as a case study, I show that the "immigration consensus"—preference for high-skilled over low-skilled immigrants— reverses when institutional contexts differs in key ways from Western liberal democracies. My work has been supported by the United States Institute of Peace, American Political Science Association and Rackham Graduate School. I received my Ph.D. from the Political Science department at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. You can contact me at rwai[at]nd.edu.