IPPSR is excited to welcome a great group of IPPSR Policy Fellows for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Our undergraduates apply research to current issues in the Michigan Legislature, our Masters of Public Policy students write state policy research reports, and our Ph.D. students maintain large datasets for research and practice.
Here are members of the 2021-22 research team to date. so come back soon for a complete lineup of this year's IPPSR stars!
- Roderick Bullard, a second-year Master of Public Policy Student at MSU and a Graduate Fellow at IPPSR for the 2021-2022 academic year. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology and criminal justice from Michigan State. His primary policy interests are public health and criminal justice reform. He is currently assisting on an IPPSR project to understand how communities are utilizing their funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
- Michael Breslin, a senior studying in the linked BA-Master of Public Policy program at MSU. His primary policy interests are tax policy and public finance. He is currently assisting on an IPPSR project collecting data on the United States Congress and create an accessible, user-friendly tool for understanding congressional data.
- Lucas Nunn, a first-year student working toward a mathematics degree. Through the Professorial Assistantship Program, he is currently focused on work with the Correlates of State Policy Project (CSPP) dataset.
- Daniela Nyiri, a Master of Public Policy candidate and an IPPSR Public Policy Graduate Fellow working under a grant to add enriching information and diversity to programming. Outside of her academic obligations, she's a campaign consultant for Dream Corps Green-for-All. Daniela also considers herself a coffee and croissant enthusiast.
- Natalie Overton, a first-year doctoral student in political science at MSU. She studies political psychology and behavior with an emphasis on environmental politics – and has a strong interest in environmental policy. She grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. She moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 2012 and attended the University of California - Santa Barbara for her undergraduate degree. There, she double majored in political science and sociology. She completed her Master of Arts at San Francisco State University, emphasizing American Politics and Political Theory.
- Angela Perez, a first-year doctoral student studying in MSU's Department of Political Science. She joined IPPSR in the fall 2021. She is a native of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. Her research interests center around public policy, specifically, education with an intersectional approach that examines race/ethnicity, class and gender.
- Nicholas Pigeon, a Master of Public Policy candidate at Michigan State University and an IPPSR Public Policy Graduate Fellow. He is a campaign veteran who has helped elect candidates up and down the ballot at the local, state, and national level.
- Leah Sargent, a junior at MSU pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Degree in political science. She is currently interested in researching environmental policy. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a Master of Public Policy and possibly a law degree.
- Julian C. Trevino, a first-generation college student and Mexican American from Grand Rapids, MI. He is currently an undergraduate majoring in political science pre-law with minors in French and international development.
- Ben Yoel, a first-year doctoral student in political science at MSU and an IPPSR Public Policy Graduate Fellow for the 2021-2022 academic year. At IPPSR, he works on the Correlates of State Policy Project and equivalent congressional project.
Students will be working on campus with IPPSR Director Matt Grossmann and Associate Director Arnold Weinfeld on a variety of projects, including redistricting, IPPSR Correlates of State Policy, Latinx voting patterns, State of the State Survey, Michigan Policy Insiders Panel, COVID-19 policies, Michigan's budget and water issues.