Projects and Service
Research collaborations, student programs, and service at Berea College and beyond.
URCPP: Student Well-Being and Academic Progress
Supported by Berea College’s Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program (URCPP), this collaborative project examines student well-being and academic progress in a work-college setting. We collected original survey and laboratory data from 105 Berea undergraduates.
I now mentor a six-student research group in the Mind-Body Lab. Students gain experience in research preparation, data collection and organization, interpretation, and scholarly communication. Two undergraduate research scholars participated in the original data-collection phase; related student-led projects are ongoing.
NOAA Collaboration: Cloud Data Analytics Fellowship
Through Berea College, I was selected as a faculty fellow in the High Technology Foundation’s Cloud Data Analytics Fellows Program. The program connects colleges and universities with climate and weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), cloud-based analytics, and entrepreneurial problem-solving.
The fellowship is part of HTF’s Ecosystem Project, which aims to advance climate and weather innovation, expand the commercial climate and weather sector, and create economic opportunity in Appalachia. Faculty bring NOAA datasets and cloud resources into their courses so students can explore applications to business and societal challenges.
My planned contribution is to incorporate a NOAA-data assignment and cloud-based analysis into my Spring 2027 Panel Data Methods course. The program pairs this kind of classroom experience with entrepreneurship-focused instruction, collaborative planning with HTF project analysts, and opportunities for students to develop ideas for a pitch competition or showcase. This connects my quantitative economics teaching with applied data work and student-led problem-solving.
EconGames
For three competition years, I co-advised Berea’s EconGames program with Volker Grzimek. We helped establish EconGames as a quarter-credit course, led weekly preparation, accompanied students to the competition, and coordinated program logistics. In 2026, the students won Berea’s first championship, placing first among 30 teams from 29 universities.
College and Professional Service
- Board member, Kentucky Economic Association (KEA)
- Session chair, Kentucky Economic Association Annual ConferenceOctober 2026.
- Member, Academic Program Council (APC), Berea College (Division II representative)
- Member, Campus Hearing Committee, Berea CollegeListed publicly as the Campus Conduct Hearing Board.
- Member, Undergraduate Research and Creative Projects Program (URCPP) Committee, Berea College
- Faculty co-advisor, Muslim Student Association, Berea College
Academic and Labor Service
Since joining Berea in 2023, I have provided academic advising and labor supervision. I support students with course planning, research development, and participation in professional economics settings.
Internship advising and faculty sponsorship
As a faculty sponsor, I help students connect professional experience with economics through learning objectives, reflective journals, research papers, and presentations. Organizations represented in my internship-advising work include:
- Argentem Creek Partners
- Edelen Renewables
- Kentucky Center for Economic Policy
- Mountain Association
Research mentorship and professional preparation
- Mentor undergraduate researchers in literature review, data work, scholarly writing, and presentations, including the six-student group described above.
- Helped a student refine her paper and prepare a presentation that received the student best-paper award at the October 2026 Kentucky Economic Association conference. The underlying research originated in her Virginia Tech internship.
- Accompany students to the Kentucky Economic Association conference with Volker Grzimek, supporting their participation in the economics research community.