About Me
I am an Assistant Professor of Economics at Clark University. I earned my PhD from the University of Michigan in 2022.
Research
My research is in development economics and economic history with a focus on human capital – especially health – in modern and historical developing economies. In my work, I show that:
- Colonial labor policies in Africa shaped its HIV epidemic through their long-run impacts on marriage markets.
- Controlling neglected tropical diseases has important but previously unexplored effects, such as reducing racial inequality in Brazil and young women's HIV rates in Zimbabwe.
Teaching
I teach development economics at the graduate and undergraduate levels as well as principles courses. In teaching evaluations:
- Graduate students rated my course's contributions to increasing their capacity to think critically and formulate questions as 5/5 (0.63 SD above the university mean for grad classes).
- Undergraduates rated my instructor effectiveness as 4.92/5 (0.55 SD above the university mean for undergrad classes), and a student described me as "one of the best professors [they] have had in the major."
LGBTQ+ Inclusion
As an openly gay economist, I work to increase inclusion in the profession as a mentor in the CSQIEP LGBTQ+ Mentorship Program. I did the same in college sports as an out NCAA Division I student-athlete on the University of Arizona Men's Swimming Team.