IRP Dissertation Research Fellowship

University of Wisconsin–Madison advanced graduate students conducting rigorous poverty-related dissertation research are eligible to apply for the IRP Dissertation Research Fellowship which offers up to 12 months of research support. This award is open to doctoral students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who are pursuing a poverty-related degree and are sponsored by an on-campus IRP faculty Affiliate. Preference is given to students who have participated in the IRP Graduate Research Fellows program, however, any student with the sponsorship of an IRP faculty Affiliate may apply. Calls for applications are released in February.

Note: Program was formerly called Ph.D. Student Research Fellowships.

Current Call

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2024-2025 IRP Dissertation Research Fellow

Emma Flanagan

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and Dissertation Research Fellow

Address:
Human Development and Family Studies
School of Human Ecology
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Emma Flanagan is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the School of Human Ecology. Her research interests include social safety net policy, street-level bureaucracy, and broader concerns about policy implementation.

Emma’s dissertation is titled Delivery of Social Benefits: How Families Experience the Receipt of Social Safety Net Supports. While policymakers tend to focus on the dollar amount families receive in benefits when discerning policy effectiveness, this dissertation will call needed attention to how benefit implementation and delivery matters beyond amount. My three papers will investigate perceptions of an unconditional cash transfer targeting mothers, the roles of grocery store workers in overseeing redemption of SNAP and WIC benefits, and the impacts of decreasing SNAP administrative burdens on SNAP enrollment during the pandemic. Together, these papers will contribute to our understanding of how benefit delivery processes shape the efficacy of social safety net policy.

Emma has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with minors in biology, public health, and urban poverty studies. Prior to her doctoral studies, Emma worked in the realm of housing and housing policy while serving as an AmeriCorps member in Missoula, Montana.

Date of Dissertation Research Fellowship: 2024–2025 academic year
Advisor: Sarah Halpern-Meekin

2023-2024 IRP Dissertation Research Fellow

Sarah Elizabeth Farr

Position title: Dissertation Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology & Community and Environmental Sociology
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Sarah Elizabeth Farr is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology & Community and Environmental Sociology. Her dissertation is entitled: The Politics of Homeownership: Property Relations, Distributive Struggles, and Group Formation. Sarah’s dissertation draws on two different empirical projects. The IRP Fellowship will support one of the two projects, which is titled Redistributing Inequality: Community Organizations, Privatized Urban Governance, and the Politics of Property Value in Milwaukee’s Neighborhood Improvement Districts.

Date of Dissertation Research Fellowship: 2023–2024 academic year
Advisor: Gay Seidman
IRP Sponsor and Dissertation Committee Member: Katherine Curtis

Twitter: @sarahefarr

2022–2023 IRP Dissertation Research Fellows

Annaliese Grant

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and Dissertation Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Annaliese Grant is a graduate student in Sociology. Her dissertation is entitled: “A Multi-Method Approach to Family Media Use and Social Class.”

Date of Dissertation Research Fellowship: 2022–2023 academic year
Advisor: Marcia Carlson

Twitter@annaliese_grant

Gregory Wilson

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and Dissertation Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Greg Wilson is a graduate student in Sociology. His dissertation is entitled: “Serving and Thriving in a Hard Place: Black-led Organizations in the Racialized Nonprofit Industrial Complex.”

Date of Dissertation Research Fellowship: 2022–2023 academic year
Advisor: John Eason

Twitter:  ‎@gd_wilson

2021–2022 PhD Student Research Fellows

Lois Miller

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Economics and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Lois Miller is a graduate student in Economics. Her dissertation is entitled: “Effects of Guaranteed Transfer Admission.”
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: Summer 2021
Advisor: Jeff Smith

Twitter: @Lois_Miller

Chiara Packard

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Chiara Packard is a graduate student in Sociology.  Her dissertation is entitled: “The Question is, “Should you Charge?”: A Multi-site Case Study Exploring Prosecutor’s Use of Discretion in Wisconsin.”
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 2021–August 2022
Advisor: John Eason

2020–2021 PhD Student Research Fellows

Erica Eliason

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Poverty and Social Policy
Columbia University

Erica Eliason is a graduate student in social work. Her dissertation is entitled: “The Effects of Health Insurance Eligibility Policies on Maternal Care Access and Childbirth Outcomes.”
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 1, 2020–August 31, 2021
Advisor: Heidi Allen

Frank Emeni

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Race and Wealth
Howard University

Frank Emeni is a graduate student in economics. His dissertation is entitled: “The Influence of Wealth and Income in Transition to Homeownership (2000–2015)”.
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: August 2020–May 2021
Advisor: Haydar Kurban

Esther HsuBorger

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Esther HsuBorger is a graduate student in sociology. Her dissertation is entitled “Poverty Line: The Dynamics of State and Scientific Classification.”
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: Summer 2020
Advisor: Jane Collins

Hyein Kang

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research

Hyein Kang is a graduate student in economics. Her dissertation is entitled: “Essays on Evaluating the Effects of the Child Tax Credit.
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: January 2021
Advisor: James P. Ziliak

Joanna Venator

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Economics and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Joanna Venator is a graduate student in economics. Her dissertation is entitled “Dual-Earner Migration Decisions, Earnings, and Unemployment.”
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 1, 2020–August 31, 2021
Advisor: John Kennan

2019–2020 PhD Student Research Fellows

Bethel Cole

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Race and Wealth
Howard University

Bethel Cole is a graduate student in economics who focuses on housing inequality. Her dissertation is entitled: “How Did the Recent Increase in Supply of Multifamily Apartments Affect Housing Affordability in Washington, D.C.?”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: August 2019–May 2020
Advisor: Haydar Kurban

Elizabeth Doran

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Poverty and Social Policy
Columbia University

Elizabeth Doran is a graduate student in social policy. Her dissertation is entitled “Childcare (In)stabilty and Household (In)stability Among Low-Income Families.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 2019–May 2020
Advisor: Jane Waldfogel

Chloe Haimson

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Chloe Haimson is a graduate student in sociology. Her dissertation is entitled: “Parole Supervision in an Era of Decarceration.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: May 2019–May 2020
Advisor: Pamela Oliver

Grace Reinke

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
West Coast Poverty Center (WCPC)
University of Washington

Grace Reinke is a graduate student in political science. Her dissertation is entitled “Social Reproduction as Political Resistance: Case Studies from US Politics in an Age of Extraction.”
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: Summer 2020

Kenneth Tester

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research

Kenneth Tester is a graduate student in economics who focuses on public finance.

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 2019–May 2020
Advisor: David Agrawal

Melody Waring

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
School of Social Work and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Melody Waring is a graduate student in social work. Her dissertation is entitled: “Caring for Aging Parents: Stratified Effects on Labor Force Participation.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: May 2019–August 2019
Advisor: Lawrence M. Berger

Curriculum Vitae

2018–2019 PhD Student Research Fellows

Howard (Jacob) Carlson

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Jacob Carlson is a graduate student in sociology and an IRP Graduate Research Fellow. His dissertation is entitled: “Gentrification, Urban Context, and the Effects on Low-Income Households.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: May 2018–April 2019
Advisor: Erik Olin Wright

Shiyu Cheng

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research

Shiyu Cheng is a graduate student in economics. Her research area is the economics of public transfer programs.

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 30, 2018–May 15, 2019
Advisor: James Ziliak

Irene Jacqz

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Agricultural & Applied Economics and Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Irene Jacqz is a graduate student in agricultural and applied economics and an IRP Graduate Research Fellow. Her dissertation is entitled: “Environmental Inequality and Early Childhood Cognition.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: June 2018–May 2019
Advisor: Jason Fletcher

Kirsten McLeod

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Race and Wealth
Howard University

Kirsten McLeod is a graduate student in economics. Her dissertation is entitled: “Economic Analysis of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Affordable Rental Program: Beneficiaries versus the Target Population.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 2018–August 2019
Advisor: Haydar Kurban

Jessica Pac

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Poverty and Social Policy
Columbia University

Jessica Pac is a graduate student in social policy. Her dissertation is entitled: “Preventing Maltreatment in Early Childhood.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 2018–August 2019
Advisor:Jane Waldfogel

2017–2018 PhD Student Research Fellows

Sarah Charnes

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
West Coast Poverty Center
University of Washington

Sarah Charnes is a graduate student at the Evans School of Public Affairs. Her dissertation is entitled “Essays on Food Insecurity and Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy in the United States.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: Summer 2018

Adji Diagne

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Race and Wealth
Howard University

Adji Diagne is a graduate student in economics. Her dissertation is entitled: “Are Inclusionary Housing Programs Color-Blind? The Case of Montgomery County MPDU Program.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 2017–September 2018

Garrett Grainger

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Department of Sociology
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Garret Grainger is a graduate student in sociology. His dissertation is entitled: “Instituting Housing First: Barriers, Strategies, and Outcomes Related to the Implementation of HUD’s Homeless Services Mandate.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: Summer 2018
Advisor
: Gary Green

Annie McGlynn-Wright

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
West Coast Poverty Center
University of Washington

Annie McGlynn-Wright is a graduate student in sociology. Her dissertation is entitled “Farm Bill to Table: Pregnancy and the Politics of Food Assistance.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: Summer 2018

Emily Parrott

Position title: Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
School of Human Ecology, Human Development and Family Studies
Institute for Research on Poverty
University of Wisconsin–Madison

Emily Parrott is a graduate student in the School of Human Ecology. Her dissertation is entitled: “College as a Potential Route to Social Mobility.”
Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: June 2017–May 2018
Advisor
: Sarah Halpern-Meekin

Rayven Plaza

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
Center on Poverty and Social Policy
Columbia University

Rayven Plaza is a graduate student in social work. Her dissertation is entitled “The Sunset of School Integration: A National Study of Property Values and Test Score Gaps After Desegregation Plans End.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: Fall 2017 to Spring 2018

Cody Vaughn

Position title: PhD Student Research Fellow

Address:
University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research

Cody Vaughn is a graduate student in economics. His dissertation is entitled: “Growing Up under TANF: The Children of Welfare Reform.”

Date of PhD Student Research Fellowship: September 2017–May 2018