Dr. Moreno is trained as a comparative political scientist, with a specialization in Latin American politics. Her scholarly interests focus on democratic institutions and inter-branch relations and their implications for democratic accountability and representation.
Moreno's work on Latin American politics has appeared in a variety of venues including book manuscripts, peer-reviewed research articles, reviews, and book chapters. Her work has appeared in peer reviewed journals, including Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, the Bulletin of Latin American Research and Legislative Studies Quarterly. She has also contributed to chapters in edited book manuscripts published by Notre Dame press, Oxford University Press, and Pennsylvania State Press on topics that include the Colombian peace process, government institutions and accountability, and the Colombian political system.
A generous Haddix Faculty Research Grant in 2014 facilitated the creation of a new dataset and several published studies on the role of the Defensoria del Pueblo (Ombudsman) on human rights and accountability in Latin America. These studies included several regional analyses of the tangible and beneficial effects of these institutions on several key human rights, published in Latin American Politics and Society and Human Rights Review in 2016. These studies have built the foundation for her forthcoming book, From Justitieombudsman to Defensor del Pueblo: Human Rights Ombudsman in Latin America (2020).
Although her primary focus is democracy and its institutions, she has also worked on topics that have addressed stability of regimes (democracy and autocracy), political transitions, and the role of regime characteristics on economic outcomes. For instance, Dr. Moreno was part of the Creighton University team (with Associate Political Science Professor Richard Witmer, Associate Dean of the Law School Mike Kelly, Director of the Werner Center, Patrick Borchers) that wrote the Report on the Resolution of Outstanding Property Claims Between Cuba and the United States (Creighton University Press 2007). The report which proposes the creation of a mechanism to settle outstanding property claims by Americans against the Cuban government, was commissioned by the United States Agency of International Development and supported by a $750,000 grant. That line of research has culminated in an edited volume, Cuba-U.S. Bilateral Relations (Fall 2019).
In her spare time, Dr. Moreno enjoys running, kayaking, camping in the desert Southwest, and spending time with her family.