Rachel Barkin is from Palo Alto, California, and is a junior at Barnard College majoring in political science and minoring in psychology. Her research interests include urban violence and criminal justice responses, the politics of drug-trafficking in the U.S. and Latin America, state-criminal conflict, and the impact of U.S. economic policies on Latin American citizens. She is a Managing Editor for the Columbia Political Review and a Research Assistant at the Columbia Justice Lab. She loves writing, painting, running, and listening to music.