Jay Szkola is an assistant professor in the Department of Law and Justice Studies at Rowan University. He received his PhD in criminal justice from CUNY John Jay College/The Graduate Center and received his MSW from New York University. His main research interests are in community violence intervention (CVI) programs, credible messengers, spatial crime patterns, and gun culture. Prior to becoming a faculty member at Rowan University, Jay was the data scientist at Everytown for Gun Safety. He currently has several active research projects including ones looking at emerging gun culture, the implementation of CVI programs, and what makes Credible Messengers Credible. His work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Justice Quarterly, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Journal of Urban Health, and Crime & Delinquency.