Graduate Research Fellows and Task Team Leaders

ACDP Graduate Research Fellows and IPD Task Team Leaders

The AidData Center for Development Policy (ACDP), supported by a collaborative partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN), supports ten graduate research fellowships at The University of Texas at Austin each year. More information on the ACDP and the USAID HESN programs can be found on our partner AidData's website.

Daniela Hernandez (Program Manager)

Daniela Hernandez is a third-year master’s student at LBJ and LLILAS, pursuing a dual degree in Global Policy and Latin American Studies. Her research focuses on good governance, transparency and accountability initiatives, anti-corruption monitoring, and international development with a regional focus in Latin America. Before coming to grad school, she spent the summer in the Philippines working as an AidData summer fellow with the Map the Philippines Initiative. She led workshops for local governments, universities, NGOs, and businesses with the purpose of building capacity to use geospatial tools for disaster resilience. She holds a BA in Anthropology and a BDP certificate in Global Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Daniela is fluent in Spanish. Read Daniela's CV here.

Anna Koons

Anna Koons is a 3rd year dual-degree graduate student, pursuing her Master’s in Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School and her Master’s in Public Health at the UT Health Science Center. Anna is interested in how open data & aid policies, the use of appropriate technology, and evidence-based methods can solve big problems in global development. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a research project coordinator at the Duke University Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research. There, she managed global health studies and evaluation projects focused on behavioral health and outcomes for youth in low- and middle-income countries. She also spent a summer working on international development policy analysis for the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network in Washington, DC. Anna holds a BA in History from Wheaton College, and speaks intermediate French and basic Kiswahili.

Michael Denly

Michael (Mike) Denly is a PhD student in the Department of Government. Prior to joining UT Austin, Mike worked in various capacities for the World Bank. His first assignment concerned operational data quality, during which Mike co-developed and operationalized the World Bank´s climate change co-benefit tracking system. Another assignment brought Mike to Togo, where he prepared the implementation arrangements and risk framework for an education project. Currently, Mike conducts research for the World Bank on governance and anti-corruption issues, a consultancy position he has held since 2013. In August 2015, Mike graduated with a dual MA in Development Management and Policy from Georgetown University and Universidad Nacional de San Martín in Argentina. Mike also holds an MSc in Public Policy and Human Development from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and a BA in International Studies from the University of Denver. Primarily as a result of studying and working in various countries in Europe, Latin America, and Africa, Mike is fluent in French, Spanish, and Italian, and also speaks basic Dutch. Read Mike's CV here.

Iasmin Goes

Iasmin Goes is a PhD student in the department of Government. She specializes in political economy, economic history, authoritarianism and democratization in Latin America, mostly from a mixed-methods perspective. Prior to attending UT, she worked as a research assistant at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and as a PR consultant for the OECD. In both cases, she was responsible for data collection, interpretation and/or visualization. She holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in Latin American Studies, both from the Free University of Berlin. In addition to her native Portuguese and German, she speaks fluent Spanish and intermediate French. Read Iasmin's CV here.

Paul Kuhne

Paul Kuhne is coming on board as an IPD Graduate Research Fellow this fall after spending time as a research affiliate for the Data4Peace team last year. He is a master’s student in Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and is focusing on international development. He received his Bachelors in Political Science and Spanish from Temple University in Philadelphia. Previous to the LBJ School, he spent time working at various nonprofits in the Boston area, supporting with direct service delivery and intercultural education at Hostelling International USA. He just completed a summer internship as an AidData Summer Fellow in Kampala, Uganda where he worked for the Open Sustainability Institute. During his time there, he taught GIS and data management to staff members, and also helped craft an Open Data Policy Brief.

José D. Sierra

José D. Sierra is a PhD student in the department of Government. José is interested in both international and comparative political economy. Prior to joining UT Austin, José worked for the Inter-American Development Bank´s Honduras office as an economist. During his tenure there he co-published two papers: the first one analyzing Honduras’ total factor productivity and the second one studying illegal emigration flows among low-income citizens. He also coedited a book on Social Exclusion in Honduras and contributed to the Bank´s Country Strategy design. José’s work on Honduras also touched upon the relation between institutions and economic development, as well as in the relation between education and labor income. He earned his BA (2009) degree in economics from the National Autonomous University of Honduras and a MA (2013) degree in economics from Duke University. Read José's CV here.

Hans-Inge Lango

Hans-Inge Lango is a PhD candidate in the Department of Government with International Relations and Methodology as his two subfields. His dissertation focuses on the intersection of intrastate and interstate war. Specifically, his research examines how external actors can cause intrastate war, and also how these conflicts can expand and become interstate wars. Before coming to UT Austin Hans-Inge worked as a junior research fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, with a particular focus on cyber security and power. He also have experience from various think tanks in Washington, D.C., including contributing analysis on defense spending and policy for the Sustainable Defense Task force and the Domenici-Rivlin Debt Reduction Task Force. Hans-Inge holds an M.A. in International Relations from Boston University and a B.A. in Journalism from Oslo University College.

Ryan Williams

Ryan Williams is a third year master’s student in Global Policy Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. He is interested in the intersection of emerging technology and public policy. Ryan received his BA in Political Science and Russian from Texas A&M University in 2014. In 2014 he also started a small business that produced media for real estate agents all over Texas. Ryan’s current work at IPD is focused on mapping the connections between global rankings. He also researches the lifecycles of NGOs in Russia since 1991. This summer he worked as an Advanced Research Intern on the Unconventional Weapons Team at the Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism.

Melanie Levine

Melanie Levine is a candidate for the Master of Public Affairs (DC Concentration) at the LBJ School of Public Affairs in Austin. While earning her undergraduate degree in Government and Sociology at the College of William and Mary, Melanie interned with Amnesty International in New York City, NPR in Washington, DC, and an education non-profit in South Africa. After graduation, she moved to DC to work in fundraising and partnerships for the Aspen Institute, and later transitioned to the international development consulting firm, Dexis Consulting Group. As a Senior Project Associate at Dexis, Melanie supported the design and management of multi-million dollar programs focused on agricultural development for donors including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank. She continues to pursue her interest in agricultural development and food security from Austin with ongoing consultancies for Dexis Consulting Group and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Josh Meuth Alldredge

Josh Meuth Alldredge is a master’s candidate in Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and he joins the Graduate Research Fellow team at IPD after serving as a Research Affiliate in 2016-2017. Josh’s interest in international development began during his time at Whitman College, where he studied politics, Spanish, and social movements in Latin America. After researching youth radio stations in Nicaragua, Josh worked in Brazil, carrying out ethnographic research and community development planning with indigenous villages. He later received the Princeton in Latin America Fellowship and spent a year administering external relations for a rural university in Bolivia. Upon his return to the United States, Josh worked for the federal Head Start Program in Colorado, planning and implementing client-facing communications strategies. At the same time, he served on the board of Launch High School, a first-of-its-kind public charter with a curriculum focused on learning through social enterprise and entrepreneurship. During the summer of 2017, Josh worked with Ubongo Learning in Tanzania to evaluate the impact and reach of the company’s animated educational content across Africa.

Katherine Whitton

Katherine Whitton is a 2nd year Master of Global Policies Studies candidate at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She joined LBJ after two years as an education volunteer in U.S. Peace Corps Ethiopia. At LBJ, she has joined the Graduate Public Affairs Council (GPAC) and now serves on the executive committee. In addition, she has served as an admitted students ambassador, traveled to Nepal to conduct field research, and worked with IPD since fall 2016. Over the summer, Katherine served as an AidData Summer Fellow at the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) and the Resilient African Network (RAN) Lab in Kampala, Uganda focusing on GIS and open data principles. Her specialization at LBJ is international development and governance.