Current Courses
- INFX598: Data Science "in the Wild" (University of Washington)
- INF0SYS: Practical Machine Learning (U.C. Berkeley)
Prospective Students and Research Assistants
I am currently recruiting research assistants to work in the areas of "big data" science and international development. Research assistants will join an exciting new initiative that uses sophisticated computational and statistical methods to better understand economic and social behavior in developing countries. The research assistant will be based in Seattle, but will be involved in analyzing data from field sites in across the globe, including projects based in Afghanistan, Mexico, Mongolia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. These projects are being led by Joshua Blumenstock, in collaboration with researchers at Yale, London School of Economics, MIT, UC Berkeley, and Georgetown University, and are in partnership with local implementers and international donors. Limited international travel may be required.
Qualified candidates must have prior experience with computer programming and quantitative analysis. Mastery of at least one high-level programming language (C/C++/C#, Java, Python, php, etc.), and experience with Linux, is required. Practical experience with statistical analysis packages (such as R, MatLab, Stata, etc.) is critical to the position, but such skills can be developed on the job if the candidate has sufficient programming experience and prior exposure to math and statistics. The ideal candidate will have prior experience working with raw and unstructured data, and with developing solutions for storing and managing such data. Past experience with SQL, with web scraping, with GIS analysis, and with data analysis and visualization is highly desirable. Preference will be given to graduate students and advanced undergrads at UW.
Interested applicants should email me with the following information: Cover letter (including 2-3 paragraphs describing prior computer programming experience); Resume/CV; Examples of past programming outputs (can be screenshots, URLs of websites, source code, etc.); Transcript or list of relevant coursework (with grades received) in Computer Science, Statistics/Math, Economics.
Current and Former Students
| Year | Degree | Student | Current Placement |
| 2013 | Ph.D. | Philip Reed | University of Washington |
| 2013 | Ph.D. | Jordan Eschler | University of Washington |
| 2013 | Ph.D. | Tingting Wang | University of Washington |
| 2013 | RA | Hugo Gerard | Innovations for Poverty Action |
| 2012 | BA | Lauren Fratamico | Georgia Tech |
| 2012 | BA | Ye (Jack) Shen | UBS Investment Bank |
| 2012 | BA | Yian Shang | Grameen Foundation |
| 2012 | BA | Sergey Goder | Rearden Commerce |
| 2012 | BA | Paige Dunn-Rankin | |
| 2011 | BA | Viraj Mohan | |
| 2011 | BA | Anita Mehrohtra | Accenture Technology Labs |
Past Courses
- Econ 174/274: Global Poverty and Impact Evaluation (UC Berkeley)
- UGIS 192: URAP Apprenticeship Program (UC Berekley)
- KIST 231: Quantitative Research Methods (Kigali Institute of Science and Technology)
- UGIS 192: URAP Apprenticeship Program (UC Berkeley)