PhD Career Destinations

Our PhD Graduates have found positions in both academia and the public sector in the U.S. and abroad, including:

Assistant Professor/Lecturer positions

  • California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (Political Science)
  • Kuwait University (Environmental Science)
  • National University of Science and Technology, Pakistan (Center for Advanced Studies in Energy)
  • Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (Academic Director)
  • Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia (Agricultural Socioeconomics)
  • University of Monterrey in Mexico (Academic Program Director, Political Science and Governance)
  • University of South Alabama (Political Science)

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships

  • Cambridge University
  • Stanford University
  • University of Michigan
  • University of Stockholm
  • University of Sussex
  • University of Victoria (British Columbia)
  • Utah State University
  • Oregon State University

Public Sector and Policy Positions 

  • Egyptian Food Bank (Director, Growth Lab Department)
  • Hatfield Resident Fellowships (Portland State University)
  • Mark43 (Senior Public Policy Associate)
  • Nepal's Development and Social Change Program (Academic Director)
  • Oregon Legislative Policy Research Office (Policy Analyst)
  • Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (Manager, Water Quality and Quantity Program)

PhD Graduates

2024

FURQAN, MAHAM. "Valuing Resiliency from Microgrids."

  • Advisor: Hilary Boudet
  • Policy Interest: Energy Policy
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Pakistan

SIDDIQI, MUHAMMED USMAN AMIN. "Politics of Environmental Resource Management Policies: Understanding the Role of Values, Identities, and Knowledge in shaping Public Support for Energy, Water, and Food Policies"

  • Advisor: Brent Steel
  • Policy Interest: Energy Policy
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Pakistan

STELMACH, GREG. "Public Perceptions of Energy Development on the U.S. West Coast"

  • Advisor: Hilary Boudet
  • Policy Interest: Energy Policy
  • Home Country: United States

2023

MOLINA, RAFAEL FELIPE S. "Understanding Welfare As We Know It: A Comprehensive and Updated Mixed-Methods Analysis on the Relationship between Public Opinion and Welfare Policies"

  • Advisor: Christopher Stout
  • Policy Interest: Social Policy
  • Home Country: Brazil

MUTTAQEE, MAHMOOD. "Community Perceptions and Response to Microgrid Proposals - Case Studies from the U.S."

  • Advisor: Hilary Boudet
  • Policy Interest: Energy Policy
  • Award: Graduate Research Assistant for Alfred P. Sloan Foundation project
  • Home Country: Bangladesh

PRADIPTA, SENA. "Greenwashing as Public Policy Problems: Reflections from Indonesia"

  • Advisor: David Bernell
  • Policy Interest: Environmental Policy
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Indonesia

RUFF, JONATHAN. "A Narrative Policy Framework Analysis of US Space-Defense Policy and the Operationalization of Plot"

  • Advisor: Brent Steel and Michael D. Jones
  • Policy Interest: Science & Technology Policy

2022

GOLYA, TAMAS. "Effects of State Policies and County Characteristics on Wind Energy Siting in the Western U.S."

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Policy Interest: Energy and Environmental Policy
  • Home Country: Germany

KHAN, MUHAMMAD AATIR. "An Evaluation of Legislative and Policy Reforms in Public Education in the Province of Sindh, Pakistan"

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Policy Interest: Social Policy/Education Policy
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Pakistan

UL DEEN, SHAMAS. "Essays on Energy Poverty:  Exploring the Energy-Disaster Nexus, Fuel Choices, and Respiratory Health"

  • Advisor: Matrk Edwards
  • Policy Interest: Energy and Social Policy
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Pakistan

2021

ANAND, GAUTAM. "Essays on the Effectiveness of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Improving Antenatal Care Utilization in Rural Bihar, India"

  • Advisor: Alison Johnston
  • Policy Interest: Social Policy
  • Award: Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship for International Research (SYLFF)
  • Home Country: India

GARDEZI, NAJAM uz ZEHRA. "Health Outcomes in Pakistan: Empirical Essays for Policy Assessment"

  • Advisor: Alison Johnston
  • Policy Interest: Social Policy
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Pakistan

O'STEEN, BRIANNA. "A Mixed Methods Analysis of Philippine Labor Export Policies and Impacts on Overseas Filipino Workers"

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Policy Interest: Social Policy
  • Award: Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship for International Research (SYLFF)

2020

ELKARAMANY, MOHAMED. "Examining the Causes of Variation Between States in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program's Participation Rates: Empirical and Case Study Analysis"

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Policy Interest: Social Policy
  • Home Country: Egypt

FERNANDEZ, PATRICIA. "Sustainable Management of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: From Traditional to Integrated Hydro-Irrigation-Restoration Systems"

  • Advisor: Edward P. Weber
  • Policy Interest: Environmental and Energy Policy
  • Awards: Mexican National Council for Science and Technology Fellowship; Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Mexico

KARMAZINA, ANNA. “Barriers and Facilitators of Demand Response in the U.S. Electricity Sector: A Mixed-Method Study"

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Policy Interest: Energy Policy
  • Awards: Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Fellowship; Fulbright Scholar
  • Home Country: Russia

MASKEY, STUTY. "Collaboration Challenges: Stakeholder Perceptions of Managing a National Forestry Program. A Case Study of the Multi-Stakeholder Forestry Program in Nepal"

  • Advisor: Denise Lach
  • Policy Interest: Environmental Policy
  • Home Country: Nepal

2019

AJAZ, WARDA. "Microgrids and the Transition Toward Decentralized Energy Systems in the United States: A Multi-Level Perspective"

  • Advisor: David Bernell
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar
  • Policy Interest: Energy Policy
  • Home Country: Pakistan

PETERSON, HOLLY. "Macro Stories: Policy Process Dynamics of Presidential Environmental Policy Ideas"

  • Advisor: Michael D. Jones
  • Policy Interests: Policy Process Theory and Methods; Energy and Science Policy

ZANOCCO, CHAD. "Co-producing Software for Environmental and Ecological Visualization"

  • Advisor: Denise Lach
  • Award: Stanford University Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Policy Interest: Coastal and Marine Policy; Future Scenario Modeling; Economic Development; Policy Process Theory

2018

BUYLOVA, ALEXANDRA "SASHA."  "Cascadia Earthquakes and Tsunamis in Seaside, Oregon:  Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions of Residents" 

  • Advisor: Lori Cramer
  • Award: 2018-19 Hatfield Resident Fellow
  • Policy Interest: Environmental Policy
  • Home Country: Russia

GIORDONO, LEANNE. "Advocacy Coalitions, Shifting Priorities and Disability Services: Taking an Iterative and Integrative Approach to Explaining Policy Change"

  • Advisor: Edward P. Weber
  • Award: National Science Foundation Fellowship
  • Policy Interest: Public Policy Theory; Policy Analysis

GULTOM, YOHANNA.  "Essays on Public Sector Contracting Out"

  • Advisor: Rolf Fare
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar 
  • Policy Interest: Public Policy Analysis, Public-Private Partnerships
  • Home Country: Indonesia

PINILLA JARA, JUAN PABLO.  "Party System Institutionalization and Accountability for Corruption in Latin America: The Cases of Brazil and Chile"

  • Advisor: Alison Johnston
  • Award: Fulbright Scholar (Chile)
  • Policy Interest: Comparative Public Policy, Political Corruption, Political Parties
  • Home Country: Chile

2017

FISHLER, HILLARY K. "How We've Rebuilt: Collaboration, Community, Institutions, and Adaptation Following Catastrophic Wildland Fire in the United States" 

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Award: Joint Fire Program Grant/USDA HEC Grant Fellow
  • Policy Interests:  Environmental Policy; Wildfire Policy

HUSAIN, ABDULLAH. "The Narrative of Environmentalism in Kuwait."

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Award: Kuwaiti Government Fellowship
  • Policy Interest: Environmental Policy
  • Home Country: Kuwait

PAKENHAM STEVENSON, ANNA. "Assessing Adaptive Governance Capacity of Western Water Communities" 

  • Advisor: Edward P. Weber
  • Policy Interests: Environmental and Water Policy; Collaborative Governance

UTAMI, ARINI. "Community Resilience to Climate Change in Rural Java, Indonesia" 

  • Advisor: Lori A. Cramer
  • Awards: Fulbright Scholar (Indonesia); Oregon SYLLF Fellowship for International Research
  • Policy Interests:  Environmental and International Policy
  • Home Country: Indonesia

2016

FREEMAN, MISTY MASON. "Complicating the Rural in Oregon's Water Policymaking" 

  • Advisor: Denise Lach
  • Award: Oregon Legislative Policy Research Practicum
  • Policy Interests:  Environmental and Rural Policy

PANT, SUMAN. "Examining Nepal's Community Forestry to Understand Opportunities and Barriers to Successful Collective Action" 

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Award: Oregon SYLLF Fellowship for International Research
  • Policy Interests:  Environmental and International Policy
  • Home country: Nepal

TAYLOR, CASEY LYNN. "The Challenges and Opportunities of a Proactive Endangered Species Act:  A Case Study of the Greater Sage Grouse" 

  • Advisor: Brent S. Steel
  • Award: USDA HEC Grant Fellow
  • Policy Interests:  Environmental Policy