GWIPP Research Assistants
| Pamela Blumenthal | Leah Curran | Matt Darst | ||
| Adrienne Edisis | Ana Karruz | Parisa Manteghi | Melissa McShea | Alice Levy |
| Lisa Lowry | Aidan Russell | Meghan Salas | Travis St. Clair |
Pamela Blumenthal
Pamela Blumenthal is a PhD candidate with a concentration in social and urban policy. She has participated in research on the effects of state policy on the well-being of city residents and the causes of "weak cities." She received her B.A. from Cornell University, her J. D. from University of Michigan Law School, and her MPP from George Washington University.
Katrina Connolly
Katrina Connolly is a PhD student in Public Policy concentrating in urban policy with particular interest in urban issues in developing countries. Katrina has worked with Professor Michael Wiseman on researching the interface between the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income programs. Currently she is working with Michael Bell on a project that studies the equity of property taxes in developing and transition countries. She received
her B.A. in International Studies from Emory University in 2003.
Leah Curran
Leah Curran
is a Doctoral Candidate and Research Assistant at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. While working as a Research Assistant, Leah has participated in several research projects, including: assessing the impact of indexing social programs for geographic cost-of-living differences; measuring revenue-raising disparities and equities within metropolitan areas; understanding the impact of state policy on city performance; and analyzing how formerly manufacturing-dependent regions have responded to declines in the manufacturing sector. Ms. Curran's dissertation research is focusing on the construction of gender and sexuality in abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education curricula.
Matt Darst attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He double-majored in Economics and Political Science. He is currently contributing to GWIPP’s DC Economic Competitiveness project and GWIPP’s ongoing project with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. For both of these, he is completing literature reviews, collecting and analyzing data, and providing feedback on the methods used in precedential research so that GWIPP’s researchers may improve upon those methods. He is working with GWIPP Director Hal Wolman on the DC Competitiveness project, and Charlotte Kirschner on the Lincoln project, while also completing his first year of coursework in GW's Economics PhD program.
Adrienne Edisis
Adrienne T. Edisis is a PhD student specializing in regional and state economic development policy. She worked for 7 years as a private sector development specialist at the World Bank, leading project and research teams and designing programs and policies to support trade and investment policy reforms, microfinance, and export development in Latin America and the Caribbean. She subsequently directed the GW Governing in the Global Age program offering U.S. state elected and senior government officials opportunities to learn about globalization and its implications for states. Adrienne holds an M.P.P. in International Trade and Finance from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and a B.A. from Amherst College.
Ana Karruz
Ana Karruz is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Public Policy at the George Washington University. She is currently working with Dr. Dylan Conger to investigate the implications of high school course availability and course-taking for achievement, graduation, and post-secondary enrollment. Ana is studying in the United States under the auspices of the Brazilian Ministry of Education (Capes) and the Fulbright Program.
Alice Levy
Alice Levy is PhD student with a concentration in public budgeting and finance. She is the leading student research assistant for the Washington DC Chief Financial Officer's project on economic development in the city. She has also served as a lead research assistant on the Government Performance Project, a collaborative effort between the Pew Center on the States, Governing Magazine, and four other universities to assess the management capacity of state governments. She has a masters of public policy from the George Washington University and a B.A. from University of Maryland, College Park.
Lisa Lowry
Lisa Lowry is a PhD student specializing in urban policy. She received her Master's in Public Administration from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, and her B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis majoring in Anthropology. She is especially interested in the changing uses and perceptions of public spaces. She is working with GWIPP on research project examining how different cities have reacted to a loss of manufacturing jobs and what policies have been the most successful in dealing with these changes.
Parisa Manteghi is a Master of Public Policy candidate. She is currently working with Dr. Hal Wolman and Dr. Garry Young on examining policy diffusion in the states. Prior to GWIPP, Parisa worked on Capitol Hill for Senator Russ Feingold as well as the Senate Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions. More recently, she has been working on tax policy at the Department of the Treasury. She received her B.A. in Political Science and English from the University of California, Davis in 2007.
Melissa McShea is a second-year Master of Public Policy student with concentrations in budgeting & public finance and labor market policy. Melissa is working with David Brunori and Michael Bell on a project for the National Education Association that examines the structure of state and local taxes in New Jersey. Before coming to GW, Melissa was a financial economist at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She earned an M.A. in economics from GW and received her B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia.
Aidan Russell
Aidan Russell is a second year Master of Public Policy candidate concentrating in the area of urban policy. Since joining GWIPP in June, Aidan has worked on constructing a District of Columbia profile and editing various tables for the Lincoln Project. She is currently conducting research for the DC Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of Revenue Analysis. Prior to her experience at GWIPP, Aidan worked with Dr. Michael L. Wiseman, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, researching the interface between the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Security Income programs. Before GWU she worked as a campus organizer/campaign coordinator for New Jersey Public Interest Research Group and also interned with Amnesty International on their National Training Program and Annual General Meeting. She received her B.A. in English from Kent State University, Ohio in 2006.
Meghan Salas Atwell
Meghan Salas Atwell is a PhD candidate concentrating on the area of urban and social policy. She is currently working with Dr. Dylan Conger to investigate time to English proficiency trends for non-native speakers in New York City public schools. Prior to coming to GW, Meghan was a Research Associate at the Urban Institute. She evaluated juvenile justice, behavioral health, and prisoner re-entry programs. Additionally, she spent one year as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. She obtained a B.A. in economics from Kenyon College in 2002.
Rebecca Shwalb
Rebecca Shwalb is a Master of Public Policy student concentrating on the area of social policy. She is currently working with Professor Michael Wiseman on several projects concerning welfare policy and reform in the US and the UK. She received her B.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia in 2003.