IPD Research Affiliates
Undergraduate Researchers
Paula Benavides
Major: BA, Anthropology IPD member since Spring 2017 Paula is a third year Anthropology student with a minor in Latin American Studies. She is interested in studying the intricacies of race, gender and social class relations in regards to their ties to political unrest and armed conflict. Her current passion is getting to know her homeland of Colombia from an academic standpoint. She believes her cultural anthropology background should be applied to policies and socio-cultural progress, therefore she plans on going to grad school and eventually entering the world of non-profits in Latin America. 
Zahra Biabani
Major: BA, International Relations & Global Studies; Economics IPD member since Spring 2017 Zahra Biabani is studying International Relations & Global Studies and Economics. On campus, she is involved as a Texas Woman of Excellence, UT Service Scholar, UT Gateway Scholar and Longhorn Advocate Mentee. In addition, Zahra currently interns at the League of Women Voters and is a Leader in Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership Corps.She is passionate about human rights law, access to education, environmental preservation and basically anything related to mediating injustice and inequality. Zahra is excited to delve into research and data analysis centered around global development with IPD. 
Emily Cantwell
Major: BA, International Relations; French IPD member since Spring 2017 Emily is a junior pursuing a double major in International Relations and French as well as a minor in African Studies. Over the past 3 years, Emily has volunteered with mentoring programs such as Strong Women, Strong Girls and Students Expanding Austin Literacy. In 2016, she interned at the Refugee Services of Texas, where she helped with Refugee Cash Assistance. She has also served as a research assistant for the Clark Center for Australian and New Zealand Studies. Emily is interested in human rights and is an officer for the UT chapter of Amnesty International. In the fall of 2016, she studied international relations at Sciences Po in Paris. After graduating, Emily wants to get her Master's in Human Rights Studies abroad and work for an international nonprofit organization. 
Mario Guerrero
Major: BA, Political Science IPD member since Spring 2017 Mario Guerrero is a senior Political Science at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina). Mario has been researching BRICS’s institutionalization process undertaken between 2001-2015. The main idea of his project is researching how the BRICS has worked in order to establish itself as a new actor inside the international scenario; making a special consideration about how the financial crisis in 2008 worked as a critical juncture in that process. However, in the past years, he had researched different kind of topics like the impact that climate change has in developing countries. Other topics that he had worked on are more related with local political aspects like the Mendocinean territorial planning bill passed in 2009. This topic was developed within the framework of a research project at the Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales between 2013 – 2015. Furthermore, he have studied abroad in several opportunities. In 2014, Mario won a schoolarship from the International Business School of São Paulo that allowed him to take some courses about Contemporary Topics in Public Administration and ESL courses at the University of La Verne (California, USA). In 2015, he won the Escala AUGM scholarship, giving him the possibility to spend a whole semester studying at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Nowadays, he is a Fulbright scholar at the University of Texas at Austin. 
Tatiana Jessen
Major: BA, Business Honors and Marketing IPD member since Spring 2017 Tatiana Jessen is a senior Business Honors and Marketing major at the University of Texas at Austin. Tatiana’s focus is on leveraging business development and marketing to increase the scope and effectiveness of environmental organizations. Although she’s always cared deeply for the environment, she was inspired to take action after her semester study abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Witnessing the firsthand effects of climate change on developing, African communities left a powerful imprint on her. Ever since her return, she’s worked as Business Partnerships Intern for the Sierra Club and a Business Development Intern for Global Wildlife Conservation. In addition to her environmental work, she was a member of the 2015 Texas 4000 team in which she biked from Texas to Alaska to support the fight against cancer, was a member of the Longhorn Entrepreneurship Agency, and was a Camp Texas counselor. Betsy Joles
Major: BA, Plan II Honors and International Relations IPD member since Spring 2017 Betsy is a senior Plan II and International Relations student with a minor in Asian Studies. Pursuing her interest in migration, she spent six months researching and working on a photojournalism project about Syrian refugees in Turkey. Her Plan II Honors thesis explores news coverage of the refugee crisis and the effects of media portrayal on migration policies in Turkey and the EU. Nonprofit, volunteer and journalism experiences combine further interest in conflict/ post conflict studies, social resistance and political participation. She spent a summer studying in the Indian Himalayas, speaks advanced Hindi and hopes to pursue further professional opportunities in Asia and the Middle East. She is a member of IPD’s Governance and Development team. 
Priya Mehta
Major: BA, Government and Human Development IPD member since Spring 2017 Priya is majoring in Government and Human Development and minor in Business and is working towards earning her teaching certificate through UTeach. She has worked as a legislative intern in the Office of the Texas Speaker of the House. Aside from school, Priya is part of a competitive Indian folk-dancing team called Texas Raas and enjoys losing herself in a good Netflix series. After graduating, she plans to attend law school and specialize in international law. 
Paige Milson
Major: BS, Public Health IPD member since Spring 2017 Paige studies public health and is minoring in geography with a certificate in environment & sustainability. Her research interests include global and environmental health, international development, and health metrics. She is interested in using statistical modeling and geospatial analysis to address health issues and plans on attending graduate school. 
Lila Al-Kassem
Major: BA, International Relations & Global Studies IPD member since Spring 2017 Lila is a junior majoring in International Relations & Global studies with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies. At IPD, she is working with the Governance and Development team. She is currently a Virtual Student Foreign Service intern for USAID researching co-partnerships with local agencies and corporations in the Middle East and North Africa. She also interns with GlobalAustin, a non-profit that sponsors international exchange guests through the International Visitor Leadership Program. Lila is additionally National Programs officer for Humanity First-TX, where she is helping coordinate a women and children’s clinic in Chiapas, Mexico. Lila hopes that she can use her experience with IPD to expand her interest in international security, governance, sustainable development, and conflict resolution. In her free time, Lila enjoys volunteering with refugees in Austin, learning French, and drinking (too much) coffee. 
Michael Pakebusch
Major: BA, Political Communication; Government IPD member since Spring 2017 Ryan is a senior seeking a dual-degree in Political Communication and Government. He has also studied the US/UK relationship in the War Studies Department at King's College London. He is currently a fellow at the UT Clements Center for National Security, the UT Center for Politics and Governance, and the Office of the Governor Greg Abbott. He was previously a Bill Archer Fellow where he worked in the UT System Office of Federal Relations which allowed him to speak to numerous audiences in Congress, the White House, federal agencies, and NGOs about research capabilities, and oversee and manage strategic partnerships. As president of Texas Global Business Brigades, he has worked with and led volunteer advisory groups that consult community banks and administer financial literacy workshops through a grant from the Inter-American Development Bank. On campus, he is also involved with Texas Blazers and serves as UT Student Government's Co-Director for Federal Relations. His interests are diplomacy, conflict, development, and how they intersect. 
João Paulo Alves
Major: BA, Government; International Relations IPD member since Spring 2017 João is an exchange student of Government/International Relations from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil. He is currently a Research Assistant for the Brazilian Center of Strategy and International Relations, where he conducts research on international politics and international security of the middle eastern region, working on book chapters and conjunctural analysis. 
Delainey Peterson
Major: BA, International Relations and Global Studies IPD member since Spring 2017 Delainey is a graduating senior studying international relations and global studies with a focus in science, technology and the environment with a minor in European Studies. Delainey is currently working on her Senior IRG Thesis on biotechnology and it's uses for agricultural development. She has worked the past 3 semesters as an intern for a Texas State Representative and is currently conducting legislative research on Texas agricultural policy. Delainey currently works with the Governance and Development Team. 
Keeton Schenck
Major: BA, Finance; International Relations; Humanities IPD member since Spring 2017 Keeton is a sophomore Finance and International Relations major. He is also pursuing a Humanities degree to study International Political Economics through the Liberal Arts Honors program. Specifically, he is interested in exploring the integration of financial markets, the future of international trade policy, and the role of the technology industry on the global economy. Keeton is also a 2017 Texas 4000 Rider, a non-profit and student organization that sponsors the longest student-led bike ride from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to raise money for cancer research. 
Sandra Schwalen
Major: BA, International Relations & Global Studies; German IPD member since Spring 2017 Sandra is a junior international relations and German major in the Liberal Arts Honors program. She has also pursued minors in French and European studies. As a dual citizen of the United States and Germany, she is interested in transatlantic relations and European affairs. Sandra has studied abroad in France twice, at Université Jean Moulin in Lyon in 2015 and at Sciences Po in Paris in the fall of 2016. At the University of Texas, she has also been involved in Liberal Arts Honors Student Council, Foot in the Door Theatre Troupe and Delta Phi Alpha German Honors Society. Before working with IPD, Sandra was a research assistant for the Texas German Dialect project under Prof. Hans Boas in the Germanic Studies department. 
Neha Sukumar
Major: Theatre & Dance; Applied Learning & Education IPD member since Spring 2017 Neha Sukumar is studying Theatre & Dance and Applied Learning & Education. Although she has lived in Austin for most of her life, she has had the fortune to travel to over 15 countries over the years and aspires to visit several more. She has learned five different dance forms, is involved in four play per year, has been trained in three different styles of music, supported by two unorthodox Indian parents who let her do what she loves most, and one burning passion for the arts! Her hobbies include, singing with her A Cappella team, dancing, acting, and modeling. Her dream job involves integrating art and education to modernize learning experiences. Neha is currently an employee at Texas Performing Arts where she is a student worker in the Campus and Community Engagement Department. She looks forward to honing her knowledge and skills as a part of the IPD organization! 
Cameron Zuniga
Major: BA, International Relations & Global Studies IPD member since Spring 2017 Currently, Cameron is pursuing a major in International Relations & Global Studies with an emphasis in International Political Economics, with a minor in European Studies. A deep rooted passion for increasing sustainability worldwide has resulted in Cameron engaging in research on food security in Malawi with Dr. Erin Lentz. Furthermore, he is interested in electricity and the subsequent energy exasperation that is depleting Earth of its limited natural resources. Before becoming a member of IPD Cameron assisted Dr.Ivan Ramirez with his research on the measurement of chemical composition of stars with debri-disks. 
Abby Brown
Major: BA, International Relations & Global Studies and Spanish IPD member since Fall 2016 Abby is a second-year International Relations & Global Studies and Spanish double major in the Liberal Arts Honors program. Her studies focus on Latin American studies and international political economy, and her research interests lie in international development as well as migration/border studies. She volunteered in the Dominican Republic through a program focused on sustainable development, and also spent the last summer studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain. Here at IPD she is a member of the Conflict and Development team. 
Evelin Caro Gutierrez
Major: BA, Government IPD member since Fall 2016 Evelin is majoring in Government with a minor in Philosophy and a BDP certificate in Ethics and Leadership in Law, Politics and Government. She was born and raised in Cuba where she attended school until the age of 15. Growing up in a communist country, where she was not allowed to speak up for her rights nor choose her own future, she became very passionate about human rights and justice. Once she had the opportunity to come to the United States, she discovered that she could better contribute to the preservation of these values by becoming a lawyer. Since she moved here, she has taken advantage of every opportunity this excellent nation has offered her. When she first arrived in America, she had to learn to speak English while adjusting to the rigor of her high school classes. With her dedication and efforts, she managed to graduate at the top of her class and gained acceptance to the prestigious University of Texas at Austin. Her interest in the law has increased since then because she has had the opportunity to work closely with refugees and underprivileged groups through Sewa International, a non-profit organization that focuses on improving the lives of these communities. By becoming a lawyer, she will have the opportunity to directly contribute to the advancement of the disadvantaged. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in law in the area of Civil Rights, Human Rights or International Law. 
Sebastian De Beurs
Major: BA, Plan II Honors; Government; History IPD member since Fall 2016 Sebastian is a Plan II Honors, Government, and History major focusing on U.S. foreign policy and international political economy. His research interests lie in sub-Saharan African peace and development, about which he blogs on www.africaffairs.org. Sebastian joined IPD in the hope of contributing to research at the nexus of academia and public policy. Sebastian is a also an Undergraduate Fellow in the Clements Center and a Virtual Student Foreign Service intern with the U.S. Department of State. He speaks Dutch, German, intermediate French, and can read Afrikaans. 
Jiayi Sun
Major: BA, Journalism IPD member since Fall 2016 Jiayi Sun is an international student from China. She likes writing and has joined some magazine groups at UT. She is passionate for areas in international development and gender studies. She wants to make the world better, more peaceful place for people of different races and ages. 
Jake Barnett
Major: BA, History; Plan II IPD member since Spring 2016 Jake works on IPD’s Conflict and Development team. He is an Undergraduate Fellow in the Clements Center for National Security, a Brumley Next Generation Scholar, and a 2014 Normandy Scholar. Jake studies military history and international security with a focus on insurgency and other forms of sub-state violence. His honors thesis focuses on US rural pacification efforts in Vietnam, though his regional interests are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Jake spent a semester studying international relations in Jordan and has lived in Guatemala. He speaks fluent Spanish and advanced Arabic. Read Jake's CV here. 
Vivianna Brown
Major: BA, Geography; Sociology IPD member since Spring 2016 Vivianna is a senior studying Geography and Sociology. She is interested in human-environment interactions, social justice, migration/border studies, sustainability, Latin America, and GIS. She spent this summer studying in Ecuador learning about sustainable development in South America. She currently serves as Vice President of UT Service Scholars and earned the President's Volunteer Service Award for her continued efforts to immigrants and refugees at Posada Esperanza and Casa Marianella. Sarah Fischer
Major: BA, International Relations; Journalism IPD member since Spring 2016 Sarah is a third-year international relations and journalism major in the Liberal Arts Honors program. She is also an undergraduate fellow at the Clements Center for National Security. Her research interests include conflict studies and, specifically, the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine. On campus, Sarah is a co-founder and advisory board member of the Liberal Arts Refugee Alliance. In 2015, she was the lead organizer of the 2015 Envision Austin Social Innovation Challenge. Sarah is also Vice President of the Liberal Arts Honors Student Council and DJs at the student radio station KVRX 91.7 in her spare time. Last summer and fall, Sarah studied at the Institute for Political Science in Paris, France. Sarah is a member of the Conflict and Development team at IPD. 
Daniela Garcia
Major: BA, International Relations and Global Studies IPD member since Spring 2016 Daniela is a senior studying International Relations and Global Studies. She is part of the Conflict and Development team at IPD. Her research interests include international development and gender studies, specifically women’s economic empowerment in Latin America. Her thesis focuses on the limitations of women-only interventions (specifically conditional cash transfers and micro-financing) and the importance of including men in gender and development projects. She studied abroad this past academic year at the Institute for Political Science in Paris, France. She speaks fluent Spanish and intermediate French. She is currently assisting Professor Rebecca Torres with research involving issues of children and migration, especially unaccompanied Central American and Mexican immigrant youth. 
Sneha Khan
Major: BSA, Biochemistry IPD member since Spring 2016 Sneha is a sophomore pursuing a degree in Biochemistry and certification in teaching through the University of Texas’s UTeach program. After spending a summer volunteering with children at the Mother Teresa Foundation in Kolkata, she found herself interested in working with disabled children in underdeveloped countries. After obtaining her degree, she plans on going to medical school and joining Doctors Without Borders in the future. 
Kevin Strybos
Major: BA, Geography IPD member since Spring 2016 Kevin is a Geography student with a focus on Geographic Information Systems. With his knowledge in mapping, his goals are to improve land use strategies and forward sustainable regional planning. He will be traveling to Botswana, Africa in the summer of 2016 to study climate change and ecosystems through a Study Abroad program. With IPD, Kevin works as a contributor to the GIS Team. 
Elizabeth Teare
Major: BA, International Relations; Rhetoric and Writing IPD member since Spring 2016 Elizabeth is a third-year student studying International Relations and Rhetoric in the Liberal Arts Honors Program. She focuses on the Middle East and the French language within her studies. Currently, she interns at Texas Monthly and writes for the College of Liberal Arts official publication, The Liberator. Her research interests include the freedom of information and the press, development, as well as conflict and peace-building studies. 
Jihyun Byun
Major: BA, Biochemisty; Plan II IPD member since Fall 2015 Jihyun is in her first year at UT Austin and loves learning about and participating in health policy research; she spent a summer as a research assistant for the South Texas Border Health Disparities Center to study health literacy and health practices in disadvantaged populations. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a combined MD/PhD program in Public Health, and work for international humanitarian organizations to help create and implement effective programs and policies. 
Gabrielle Torres
Major: BA, Government; Spanish; Plan II IPD member since Fall 2015 Gabby is a junior studying Plan II, Government, and Spanish language. She is eager to research humanitarian issues, and is currently crafting her thesis on the relationship between human rights and archives, as modeled by the Guatemalan Civil War. Her professional and scholastic interests include conflict resolution and political theory; internships with IPD and the Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice have allowed her to pursue these disciplines within her undergraduate career. 
Roshni Patel
Major: BA, Biology; Government IPD member since Fall 2015 Roshni is a Gilman Scholar, has worked for the Wendy Davis Campaign, and mentored students at AISD. She has had varied research experiences over the course of her undergraduate career. Her first research project was at MD Anderson Cancer Center working on new therapeutic measures for sarcoma patients. She also conducted Legislative and Policy Research at the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life in the UT College of Communications. This past summer she studied and interned abroad in London at Kings College Hospital. While there, she researched how Vitamin D levels vary among different ethnic groups. At IPD Roshni is part of the Open Aid/Health Team. 
Juliet Carrillo
Major: Undeclared IPD member since Spring 2015 Juliet is a second year transfer student currently in the Undergraduate Studies program, working towards an art education degree with a minor in African studies and a bridging disciplines certificate. She works and teaches at an orphanage in Rwanda every summer since 2011. After she graduates she hopes to use her skills to aid African children, specifically orphans in achieving their full potential through education and care. 
Akshat S. Gautman
Major: BA, Economics; Minor in Math IPD member since Fall 2015 Akshat is a freshmen international student from India. He is an Economics Major with a Math minor. He is interested in developmental studies and international policymaking. Apart from IPD, he serves on the Organizational Management Team in AIESEC Austin and also is a part of the CTMUN team. Kira Holland
Major: BA, Geography IPD member since Fall 2015 Kira is a senior pursuing a degree in Geography with a concentration in Earth Science. She is the Academic Vice President of the undergraduate Geography Society at UT and is a research assistant performing GIS spatial analysis on the spread of vector-borne diseases in response to climate change. Kira spent her summer in Ecuador studying sustainable development in South America. This year she is writing her honors thesis on the effect of thermokarst on fluvial processes, and plans on attending graduate school after graduation. 
Jenny McGinty
Major: BA, Plan II Honors; International Relations and Global Studies; Middle Eastern Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Jenny is a third year student majoring in Plan II, International Relations & Global Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies with a focus in international security and minor in Arabic. Jenny has worked on the Conflict & Development team, particularly focusing on research regarding aid and NGO impact in conflict-stricken regions in the Middle East. Jenny is interested in the long term impact of NGO work in war-torn areas, long term humanitarian aid, and the question of what aid matters post-conflict. Jenny has worked on the Brookings Institution’s Ending Rural Hunger project analyzing the relationship between armed conflict, pastoralism, and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa and is planning to pursue her thesis around her research in IPD. 
Haley McCoin
Major: BA, International Relations IPD member since Fall 2014 Haley is a third year International Relations and Global Studies major, and also a member of the Arabic Flagship Program and Liberal Arts Honors Program at UT. Haley is interested in international security with a focus on Middle East policies. She is a member of IPD's Conflict and Development team, and is currently working on a project comparing the locations of resource mines and areas of conflict within Morocco. 
Tiffany Wang
Major: BBA, Supply Chain Management IPD member since Fall 2014 Tiffany is a supply chain management major interested in using her studies in the context of humanitarian relief, especially in food insecure countries. She is a part of the LEAP leadership program, the Supply Chain Management Club, and is a Farm-to-School intern at the nonprofit Sustainable Food Center. 
Laura Holzenkamp
Major: BA, International Relations; Economics IPD member since Spring 2014 Laura grew up in Germany, and speaks fluent German. She has also been studying French for four years. At UT, Laura is a member of the Central Texas Model UN, as well as part of the Outgoing Exchange Team at AIESEC, an organization that facilitates an exchange of internships among US and international students. At IPD, she is part of the Open Aid team and researches aid transparency. |
Graduate Researchers
Ali McGuigan
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Spring 2017 Ali is a Master of Global Policy Studies candidate at the LBJ School of Public Affairs on the accelerated Washington D.C. track. She is interested in studying fragile democracies in Eastern Europe and Latin America, as well as the role of international institutions in conflict zones and aid delivery. Prior to her graduate studies at UT, Ali received her Bachelor’s in Political Science and International Relations from Texas Christian University. While earning her undergraduate degree, Ali worked at, Dream Outside the Box, a non-profit focused on steering children in underserved communities to higher education and career pathways through college student led after school programming. 
Samer Yousif
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Spring 2017 Samer Yousif is a candidate for the Master of Global Policy Studies (DC Concentration) degree at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. He graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington, earning a degree in Economics and Political Science. Samer is interested in international development, specifically the role of entrepreneurship and innovations to address complex issues. Prior to graduate school, he was a Real Change Fellow for the anti-poverty advocacy organization, RESULTS, where he advocated at the U.S. Congress for several international anti-poverty initiatives, including increased access to primary education globally, improved USAID maternal and child death preventative programs, and sustainable funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Samer’s public policy advocacy experience enhanced his understanding of the various vehicles available to affect meaningful change in the developing world, as well as his interest in promoting public-private partnerships to empower the most marginalized citizens around the world. 
Sarah Blumberg
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2016 Sarah is a Master's candidate for Global Policy Studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She received a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Judaic Studies from the University of Arizona. Following graduation, she built her professional career helping new refugee arrivals in Houston achieve self-sufficiency. She has worked in multiple capacities in the refugee resettlement field, including: volunteer coordinator, income support coach, and matching grant coordinator. Sarah is interested in sustainable development, food security, and conflict resolution. 
Andrew Corcoran
Major: MA, Public Affairs IPD member since Fall 2016 Andrew is a second year Masters of Public Affairs. He is interested in economic development, education, and social entrepreneurship. Prior to joining IPD, he worked in education and youth development in Washington DC. He has also studied and worked in Cape Town, South Africa and Montreux, Switzerland. 
Leah Havens
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2016 Leah is a Master's of Global Policy Studies candidate at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Her interests lie in the intersection of natural resource management, human rights, and engineering best practices. She received her BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in May of 2016. During her undergraduate career, she participated in and led international engineering projects for under-served communities in countries such as India and Panama. Additionally she worked as an Environmental Compliance Inspector for the engineering firm CH2M Hill. 
Paul Kuhne
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2016 Paul Kuhne is a Global Policy Studies student at the LBJ School where he is interested in studying the intersection of community engagement, citizen diplomacy and international development. He received his Bachelors degree in Political Science and Spanish from Temple University where he focused on community development in Latin America. Paul's professional career includes work at The Elizabeth Peabody House, where he managed their emergency food pantry and resource referral programs. He has also worked for Hostelling International USA where he developed their community outreach agenda, oversaw emerging partnerships and managed volunteers across the Northeast. 
Josh Meuth Alldredge
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2016 Josh joins IPD with a strong interest in international development and education policy. While in undergrad at Whitman College, he studied politics and Spanish, exploring the changes in revolutionary identity in Nicaragua in the last 2 decades. After graduating, he performed ethnographic research in northern Brazil in partnership with several NGOs. He subsequently received a fellowship through Princeton in Latin America to work at a rural university in Bolivia, where he deepened his interest in international education policy. Josh returned to the US in 2013, and continued to work in education as a manager of outreach at a Head Start agency and as a board member of an entrepreneurship-focused high school. With a passion for expanding educational access, he is thrilled to study policy at the LBJ School and support IPD projects on rural development. 
Garrett Shuffield
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies and Middle Eastern Studies IPD member since Fall 2016 Garrett Shuffield is a first-year Master of Global Policy Studies student at the LBJ School as well as an MA candidate in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He is interested in the Levant, particularly Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, and the Arab world more broadly. Garrett studies contemporary social modes of resistance in the West Bank, and is interested religious and cultural histories of the contemporary Arab world. As such, he spends a lot of time “gathering data" on Twitter and Facebook. He is also interested in development aid data and internal reconstruction following conflicts and natural disasters. He hopes to put his experience into practice at a think tank or as an academic. You can find Garrett perfecting his Arabic and Spanish ability as well as obsessively budgeting his airline miles. 
Jessi Stafford
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2016 Jessi is a Master of Global Policy Studies candidate with the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She first became interested in development after spending time in the Dominican Republic working on projects to supplement the income of teenage mothers. Since then, she spent a summer in Guatemala teaching at an elementary school and a summer in Thailand traveling around the country teaching at various English camps. She graduated from Texas Tech University in 2015 with a BA in Spanish and a minor in Mathematics. During her undergraduate career she spent a year in Spain interning with a local business and studying independently with a Spanish literature professor. Jessi's hope is to work on development projects in post-conflict areas. She intends to focus her efforts in Latin America and work on projects that promote the safety and well-being of women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations. 
Ryan Williams
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies and Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies IPD member since Fall 2016 Ryan is a second year graduate student in Global Policy Studies and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies. He is interested in emerging technologies and civil society. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 2014 with a Bachelors in Russian and Political Science. 
Cassie Gianni
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Cassie Gianni is a Master's of Global Policy Studies student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She will work as a United States Department of State Foreign Service Officer upon graduation. She hopes to dedicate her service to development issues as an Economic Officer. 
Emma Feutl Kent
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Emma is a Master of Global Policy Studies student with the LBJ School at UT Austin. Her specialization is in international development. Prior to joining IPD, she worked with the Aga Khan Foundation Canada and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. She also completed the Canada World Youth program in Ukraine and was awarded an Undergraduate Research Initiative grant to conduct research on development in Cuba. Emma has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta. 
Anne Kilroy
Major: MA, Public Affairs IPD member since Fall 2015 Anne Kilroy is a Master of Public Affairs student at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She is originally from North Carolina and attended North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC), where she double-majored in Psychology and International Studies. She studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, and took courses on environmental resource distribution, sustainable development, and French. Her interests are in international diplomacy and cooperation, specifically within the Middle East, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. She is also interested in how open aid data contribute to the sustainability of international treaties and the effectiveness of humanitarian intervention. She is currently on the GIS/Analytics team. 
Anna Koons
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Anna grew up in Colorado and obtained her BA in History from Wheaton College. Since 2010, Anna has worked at the Center for Health Policy & Inequalities Research as part of the Global Health Institute at Duke University. In her role there as a research project coordinator, she has managed multiple large studies and evaluation projects (RCT and longitudinal observation). Her interests include global health disparities, organizational learning, orphans and vulnerable children, and open aid. 
Mourin Nizam
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Mourin is a first year Masters of Global Policy Studies student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Mourin's policy interest areas are water conflict, clean water economics and the geopolitical implications of climate change in Asia. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2011. Her past professional experience includes advocacy, marketing and communication strategy for nonprofit and corporate organizations. 
Paul Ryan
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Paul Ryan is a first year graduate student in Global Policy Studies and Middle Eastern Studies. He is interested in issues of conflict and civilian identity of populations in conflict zones. 
Cleo Stern
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Cleo is a dual masters degree candidate at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and School of Public Health at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to attending UT she worked with ARCHIVE Global, a nonprofit organization focusing on using architectural and design solutions to improve health outcomes for those affected by diseases endemic to the developing world. Cleo has lived and traveled extensively in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Cleo is interested in health as a dimension of international development, particularly as it relates to disease transmission in vulnerable populations. 
Maren Taylor
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Maren Taylor is a first year Master's student at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She received a BA in Biology and a BA in History from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. Prior to coming to the LBJ school, she worked with the non-profit group Public Citizen, lobbying the Texas legislature for environmental reform. 
Alex Payson
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies IPD member since Fall 2015 Alex is from Arkansas and earned a degree in economics and international trade from the University of Central Arkansas. I am a graduate student with the LBJ School of Public Affairs. My research interests include economic development, quota systems, and women's political participation. 
Laura Richards
Major: MA, Global Policy Studies; MBA IPD member since Fall 2015 Laura is a dual Master's student in Global Policy Student and Business Administration. She is from Northern California and received a BA in Intensive Psychology from UC, Santa Cruz. During her undergraduate career worked with a women's center to develop a free English as a Second Language course for migrant Spanish speakers in the Santa Cruz community. For the past several years, she has been working with foster youth with behavioral and cognitive disorders in Seattle. Laura is interested in international development, open aid data, and women and girls' education. |
