Economic and Policy Analysis

Every data collection is unique. I enjoy developing innovative solutions to gather the data that ERG relies on in support of healthier, safer, and more sustainable systems. My role at ERG extends across multiple service areas, allowing me to collaborate with a wide range of clients and colleagues and continually take on new challenges.

A core aspect of my work involves applying my toolbox of analytical techniques to generate novel and creative ways to meet our clients’ data and research needs. This often involves learning new subject matter. I greatly enjoy this process as it feeds my natural curiosity and is very satisfying to deliver products that can help improve public health.

Over my many years of work as an economist, I have learned that dialogue with clients, stakeholders, policymakers, and regulators is invaluable for providing information, real-world perspective, and nuance that is not available from any other source. These interactions help ensure that my analyses ring true with interested parties on all sides of an issue.

I always appreciate when our government clients ask us to help them quantify the benefits and costs of actions they are considering. The more complex assignments, such as accurately characterizing behavioral changes under multiple compliance scenarios, put a premium on our creativity and experience.

At ERG, our economic projects often take us into uncharted territory where standard, regularly collected data are few or unavailable and the analytic path to answer our client’s questions is not obvious. This is exactly where I like to be! I find it deeply satisfying to explore new territory, address unique challenges, and use my expertise and creativity to develop approaches that provide meaningful, defensible results.

As an economist, I have come to appreciate that the qualitative context—including co-benefits, benefits distribution, environmental and health impacts, and social and political obstacles—can be as essential to decision-making as the numerical outputs. I enjoy working holistically with my government and community clients to determine how best to meet their needs and communicate the results.

The questions agencies need to answer generally are not straightforward. I greatly enjoy using my econometric skills to inform policy decisions and find it very fulfilling to use creative problem-solving in addressing my clients’ most challenging questions.

I love using data to help clients make smarter decisions because it’s where my mix of analytical expertise, passion for digging into details, and creative problem-solving all come together. For me, it’s about turning curiosity into clarity and working side by side with clients to build solutions that make programs better.

I am grateful for the opportunity to work with our clients because I believe deeply in their mission. I have always enjoyed statistics and analysis, but the critical step is telling a broader story that gets to the heart of the client’s research questions. One of the things I value most about ERG is our culture of using our subject matter expertise to think from the client’s perspective so that their broader goals can drive meaningful work.

Agencies tend to manage what can be readily measured, but with a large toolbox of analytical and data collection techniques and some creativity, so much more is possible! I leverage a background in economic and statistics with the use of survey data collection approaches to generate valid and reliable data to enhance decision-making. Each project I work on, I strive to combine rigorous analysis with effective communication.

I’m particularly drawn to the human dimension of our work. I value gathering stakeholder input to help ensure that our work integrates the experiences and perspectives of the people central to the topic or issue we are exploring.

Economic analysis has been my field ever since my early 20s, when I first discovered its complexities, potential, and power. At ERG, I’ve had the good fortune to work with great colleagues and clients to research issues and develop solutions for a wide variety of highly consequential public health questions. It has been a consistent joy to do work that is not only impactful but also a path of continuous learning and deepening.