Dr. Butler’s areas of specialization include institutional and community corrections. Within the study of corrections, Dr. Butler has several publications examining timely and policy-related topics like confinement in restrictive housing, prison misconduct, correctional officer wellbeing, and reporting behaviors of victims of crime while in prison. This research is published in peer-reviewed outlets that include Justice Quarterly, Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice and Behavior, and Crime and Delinquency. Dr. Butler also enjoys mentoring and advising graduate and undergraduate students at Iowa State University by encouraging them to present research at national conferences and university research symposiums. Dr. Butler is the recipient of the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Corrections and Sentencing New Scholar Award (2020). This award recognizes outstanding research efforts by a early career scholar.