Sonya’s teaching and research interests focus on international, seasonal and intra-urban migration, population forecasting, and the role of these factors on land-use change. Her recent research is centered on three topics: (1) the impact of seasonal migration to lakeshore communities in the Ozarks, U.S.A.; (2) the attitudes toward immigrants and immigration policy held by U.S. citizens and those on the front lines of the immigration debates, namely those in the civilian border patrol Minuteman Project, and the desert humanitarian groups Samaritans/No More Deaths; and (3) an empirical study undertaken in Phoenix, AZ on neighborliness. The goal of the work has been to assess whether there are social differences between private neighborhoods managed via a Home Owner Association (HOA), and more traditional neighborhoods based on voluntary associations
