I am excited to present a paper on recreational marijuana laws (6/24 @ 8:30am), a poster on a new topic dealing with AIAN communities and long-COVID (6/24 @ 5:00pm), and being able to discuss two brilliant and fascinating papers dealing with health shocks in Canada and food taxes on health outcomes amongst the Navajo nation.  ASHEcon is from June 22-25 in Nashville, TN and would love to chat with anyone interested in health economics.

I am also lucky and honored to attend this year's NBER Summer Institute Public Economics and Economics of Health Workshops from July 22-24 in Cambridge, MA.  This will be a great opportunity to learn from some of the brightest economists in the field.

I am thrilled to announce that Stacey Brockman, Molly Ledermann, Amanda Weissman, and myself were able to secure funding from Arnold Ventures for a project on the effects of open education resources (OER) on Michigan community college student success.  Stacey spearheaded the project as PI and myself as lead data analyst.  This grant will allow us to thoroughly research the impact of OER on students using quasi-experimental design, develop several manuscripts, and create college specific reports that can better guide administrators and facilitators in implementing OER.

I am excited to announce that our paper on recreational marijuana lawas is now a working paper #33176 at the NBER here.  Special thanks to my co-authors Monica Deza, Timothy R. Hodge, and Shooshan Danagoulian for all of the their brilliant work in making this a reality.  I am honored to have the opportunity to have our work presented in such a renowned place.  Along with this WP, our article was mentioned in the Chicago Booth Review by Áine Doris, "Marijuana Leads to the Munchies and 'Couchlock'" here.  

I am presenting findings from a recreational cannabis law paper, "Marijuana Munchies or Couch Lock: Effects of Recreational Marijuana Laws on Exercise and Nutrition" with co-authors Shooshan Danagoulian, Monica Deza, and Timothy Hodge at the American Economic Association's ASSA Annual Conference, on January 3rd at 10:15 AM, 2025.  We will be presenting in the Union Square Hotel as part of the Legal and Illegal Drug paper session.  The paper is coming along nicely with the incorporated feedback we got from earlier conferences.  A special thanks to Dr. Randall Akee and UCLA for making this trip possible. 

I am working with Dr. Stacey Brockman (WSU College of Education) as a Lead Analyst consultant on a few education-based public policy papers.  We will be working with data from the University of Michigan's Education Policy Initiative to examine the impacts of Open Edcucational Resources (OER) on student educational outcomes from multiple Michigan community colleges.  This research should provide some interesting insights into alternative ways of accessing and distributing educational materials that could improve grades and save money.

I am proud to announce my new job as a post-doctoral researcher for the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) starting in July!  I will be working with researchers Dr. Emilia Simeonova (JHU Carey Business School) and Dr. Randall Akee (UCLA Public Policy).  We will be working on a National Institute of Health (NIH) grant that looks into the health disparities of Native Americans on reservations and rural areas during the onset of the pandemic.  I am beyond excited for this great opportunity!  Thank you to everyone who helped me get this far, encouraged me, and believed in me.  I am eternally grateful.

Arnold Ventures, Building Evidence: Support for Causal Studies to Evaluate Social Programs and Policies - 2024-2026

Health Economics Research Analysis (HERA) Group - 2020

Population Health OutcomEs aNd Information EXchange (PHOENIX) Project - 2020

Recipient of the Goodman/Hankin Endowed Scholarship in Health Economics & Sociology - 2020

Thomas C. Rumble Fellow - 2019