I’m a development economist and most of my work is positioned at the intersection of development and labor economics and includes topics related to migration, structural transformation, human capital, and female labor force participation. In my work, I aim to combine empirical methods and economic theory to improve our understanding of what policies may improve the lives of the poor.
I am currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and received my Ph.D. from the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California Berkeley. Prior to that, I held short-term appointments for the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, UNICEF, and the United Nations General Assembly. In my research, I have worked with various NGOs and local governments, as well as with the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Rice Research Institute, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.