Sarah K. Cowan
Founder and Executive Director of the Cash Transfer Lab, Sarah K. Cowan is a social demographer and Assistant Professor of Sociology at New York University. Professor Cowan has researched, with Kiara Douds, the effect of annual Permanent Fund Dividend transfers in Alaska on childbearing and reproductive justice. That work was funded by the Economic Security Project. Her prior work examined abortion and people keeping secrets from each other. She has expertise in American fertility, social networks, and survey methodology. Prior to joining the NYU Department of Sociology, Sarah K. Cowan was a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Fellow at Columbia University. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography from UC Berkeley.
Erica Hobby
Assistant Director and Senior Research Scientist at the Cash Transfer Lab, Erica Hobby has a Master of Public Administration from NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Erica’s degree and research focus on public policy analysis and quantitative methods. In addition to working with the lab's operations and research, Erica's research explores the relationship between pregnancy intentions and infant, maternal, and early childhood outcomes. Erica also worked with Professor Cowan and Kiara Douds with their work on the Alaska PFD and reproductive justice as a research assistant at NYU.
Robert Pickett
Robert Pickett is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Cash Transfer Lab. Robert received his Ph.D. in Sociology and Demography from UC Berkeley where he explored the interplay between quantitative methods and constructionist race theory. In the lab, Robert works on statistical approaches to identify the causal effects of the PFD.
Kiara Wyndham-Douds
Kiara Wyndham Douds is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis and holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from NYU. Professor Wyndham-Douds 's research examines mechanisms that create and sustain racial inequality in contemporary American society. With Sarah K. Cowan, Kiara has examined the effect of PFD transfers in Alaska on reproductive inequalities. In their other work, Kiara focuses on the spatialized nature of racial inequality with a focus on suburban communities. Read more on their website.
Jennifer Hill
Jennifer Hill is a Professor of Applied Statistics; Director of the Center for Practice and Research at the Intersection of Information, Society, and Methodology; and Co-Director of Applied Statistics for Social Science Research Masters Program at New York University. Professor Hill develops and evaluates methods that help us answer the causal questions that are vital to policy research and scientific development. In particular, she focuses on situations in which it is difficult or impossible to perform traditional randomized experiments, or when even seemingly pristine study designs are complicated by missing data or hierarchically structured data. Professor Hill is the author, along with Andrew Gelman, of Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models and Regression and Other Stories.
Ravaris Moore
Ravaris Moore is a Faculty Affiliate of the Cash Transfer Lab and Assistant Professor of Sociology at NYU. Professor Moore is working with Miesha Williams and Juliet Elu to evaluate the effects of a philanthropic intervention that absolved the student loan debt of a cohort of college graduates. He is also heavily engaged in quantitative research assessing various dimensions of the consequences of American gun violence. Prior to joining the NYU Department of Sociology, Ravaris was a Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Princeton University. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics from Morehouse College and received a Master of Economics and a Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA.
Ruby Steedle
Ruby Steedle is a Researcher at the Cash Transfer Lab. She studied Economics and Applied Math at Brown University, focusing on health and education research. Ruby was born and raised in Juneau, Alaska and previously worked at the Alaska Council of School Administrators, supporting legislative advocacy for Alaska public schools.
Eden Min
Eden Min is a third-year student at NYU Liberal Studies and College of Arts and Science, where she majors in Sociology and minors in Politics, Math, American Sign Language, and Creative Writing. As a research assistant for the Cash Transfer Lab, she is currently focusing on the Expanded Child Tax Credit policy and Economic Impact Payments. Eden is passionately invested in various intersections of sociology with family, disability, race, gender, religion, and law.
Karyn Vilbig
Karyn Vilbig is a Graduate Research Assistant for the Cash Transfer Lab and a Sociology Ph.D. student at NYU Arts and Science. She primarily studies public opinion on tax and social policy.
Amariah DeJesus
Amariah DeJesus is the Special Projects Analyst of the Cash Transfer Lab, Assistant to the Senior Associate Deans of the Faculty of Arts and Science, and a current graduate student pursuing a Master's Degree in Professional Writing from NYU’s School of Professional Studies. At the lab, Amariah handles duties in fiscal affairs, communications, and digital media.
Karl Moore
Karl is the Program Administrator at the Cash Transfer Lab, managing its day-to-day operations. Before coming to NYU, he spent two year in Alaska working for a local natural foods startup as well as interning for the Upstart program at the University of Alaska Anchorage's Center for Economic Development. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Theater from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Paralegal Studies from the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Hailie Dono
Hailie Dono is a Graduate Research Assistant for the Cash Transfer Lab and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Applied Statistics for Social Science Research at NYU Steinhardt. Born and raised on Long Island, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from Hofstra University.