Erika del Pilar Burton '09 received her Masters Degree from the University of New Orleans and her B.A. in Political Science from Loyola University New Orleans.  She then received a Doctoral Diversity Fellowship (SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program) for 2011-2014.  She is expected to receive her Ph.D. in 2014.

She recently presented a paper entitled “Women’s Empowerment and Social Spending in New Democracies in Latin America” at the 2012 Midwest Political Science meeting in Chicago.

She also presented "Women in Government in Latin America: The Social Benefits" at the annual SLU Gender and Politics Conference, Saint Louis, May 4, 2012 and was the Chair, Panel: “Political Parties and Representation in Latin America”  at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, April 12- April 15, 2012.

Her research interests include:

Women and Politics
Latin American Politics
Government Spending in Latin America
Development and Democratization
Human Development in the Developing World
Empowerment of Women in the Developing World
International Conflict