Laurel Eckhouse is a PhD candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her current research investigates accountability in policing and the relationship between policing and political engagement.  She is a faculty member at the Prison University Project at San Quentin State Prison.

Laurel graduated from Swarthmore College in 2003. She earned master’s degrees in education from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008 and in political science from UC Berkeley in 2010. Laurel has also worked as a high school math teacher in the School District of Philadelphia and led wilderness trips through Outward Bound.