I am thirlled to announce that I will be presenting three of my recent projects at this year's ASHEcon Confernce held in the wonderful city of Minneapolis, MN from June 7th - 10th.  I will presenting our paper (coauthored w/ Timothy R. Hodge) on alcohol sales affected by the staggered entry of marijuana dispensaries, our paper (coauthored w/ Tim & Joshua Hess) on the impacts of college enrollment on dispensary sales, and our paper (coauthored w/ Alberto Ortega) on mental health and ADRD related health issues among the older populations after recreational marijuana law passage.  I am also honored to be a discussant on four separate research projects.  It is going to be a busy and thrilling time!  Please send me an email and we can touch base or talk shop if you plan on going or being in the city.

I am presenting findings from my joint consumption paper on alcohol spirits and marijuana dispensary proximity (also my JMP), "Joint Consumption? Transaction Costs as a Determinant in the Relationship between Marijuana and Alcohol" with co-author Timothy R. Hodge at the Midwest Economic Association's 90th Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL on Saturday March 21st, 2026.  We will be presenting in the Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel in the Ontario room with other interesting tobacco and marijuana related presentations.

I am excited to announce that our NBER working paper on recreational marijuana laws (here) is now off to be published in JPAM!!!  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 journal.

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 and a Methods Lecture on Causal Mechanisms 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 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