I am a multidisciplinary social scientist with interests at the intersection of applied econometrics and statistical theory, rural community development, environmental and agricultural systems, social determinants of health, spatial demography, quantitative research methods and study design, data quality control, and scientific epistemologies.
I am currently an Economist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the Performance Risk and Social Sciences Office, where I am responsible for managing a multidisciplinary social sciences research team. My duties include regulation compliance, program evaluation, technical guidance, and the development of cutting-edge research and analytical methodologies. I am also responsible for programming Enterprise CX/UX and economic impact assessments, in which I manage multiple projects and contractors to develop studies of NOAA's products and services.
Before coming to NOAA I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Connecticut where I developed automated and reproducible programs to study rural typologies and inter-industry agricultural supply chain connectivity. I have also worked in a Federal Statistical Research Data Center as a Special Sworn Status consultant. In the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University, I was a Senior Researcher modeling migration flows and demographic dynamics. As a Consultant at the World Bank, I developed geovisualizations of health and education service delivery in Madagascar. I have also taught economics and conducted applied research at Ohio University, evaluating the vulnerability of rural Appalachian communities to natural disasters. At Minnesota Population Center - National Historical GIS division I developed computation procedures to validate historical and spatial statistical data. And at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond I worked on community development projects and GIS applications for the 5th District.
My training encompasses both the economic and geographical disciplines. My sub-discipline specialization spans Agricultural and Environmental Economics, Development Economics, Regional Economics, Econometrics, Economic Geography, Health Geography, Population Geography, Rural Geography, Geographic Information Systems, and Quantitative Methods with a regional focus in Sub-Saharan Africa and rural Appalachia.
My research interests are multidisciplinary and include topics at the intersection of applied econometric methods, statistical theory, spatial and non-linear analyses, input-output analysis, community banking, rural community development, land-use dynamics, environmental and agricultural systems, ecosystems services, conservation biology, social and environmental determinants of health, child malnutrition, food security, social epidemiology, spatial demography, gender-based violence, education and health services delivery, quantitative research methods and study design, georectification, data quality control, and the history of scientific thought. I have published in a range of peer-reviewed journals including Nutrients, Social Science & Medicine - Population Health, Econ Journal Watch, Journal of Regional Analysis & Policy, Regional Science Policy & Practice, PlosOne, and Land Use Policy.
Education:
Ph.D. in Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland - 2021
M.S. in Applied Economics, University of Minnesota - 2016
M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wyoming - 2014
B.S. in Geography, University of Iowa - 2012
B.S. in Economics, University of Iowa - 2012