Student Research Assistants
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Tom Boman
Tom Boman is a Master in Public Administration candidate at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, concentrating in public policy analysis. He received a B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007, and spent the past few years prior to New York City working in Madison, WI, in higher education administration and labor organizing. His interests include labor, environmental, social and urban policy, and is currently working with the New Business Acceleration Team in the Office of the Mayor, NYU’s Sustainability Task Force, and the Furman Center.
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Deborah Burke
Deborah Burke is a research assistant at the Furman Center and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Public Administration at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Before moving to New York last summer, she worked for three years as the Senior Policy Advisor to Oregon State Representative Jules Bailey (D-Portland). Deborah’s policy portfolio included transportation management and funding, sustainable economic development, and energy efficiency and alternative energy incentives. This past year, she worked closely on a successful statewide initiative in Oregon to retrofit public schools for increased energy efficiency that was a model for a U.S. Senate bill. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Portland State University’s School of Urban Affairs.
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Sharon Carney
Sharon Carney is a second year Masters of Public Administration candidate specializing in public policy analysis at NYU Wagner. Her interests include urban economic development and neighborhood change. At Wagner, Sharon is a Bohnett Public Service Fellow and serves on the board of the Wagner Policy Alliance. Prior to graduate school, she worked with local government leaders in Detroit facilitating cooperative strategies to address regional economic challenges. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Michigan.
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Alexandra Derian
Alexandra Derian is a first-year masters student in the Urban Planning program at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. She holds a BA in Geography from Barnard College. Prior to attending NYU Alexandra worked at Baruch College developing and conducting surveys and public opinion polls on behalf of the New York City Department of Health, the New York City Housing Authority, NY1, and other local organizations. Currently she works at the Furman Center as a GIS Research Assistant. Alexandra’s research interests focus on learning how to better integrate natural disaster risk into the planning process and understanding the forces behind the production and consumption of public space.
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Eleanor Drake
Eleanor Drake is in her final year at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, where she is earning her Bachelor’s of Science in Media, Culture and Communication. Her primary interests lie in public relations, media, and racial identity. She is excited to be a part of the Furman Center and hopes to learn all she can from her experiences here.
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Du Jingqiang
Du Jingqiang (JD) is a second year MPA candidate at NYU Wagner School, concentrating on local public finance and urban policy in developing countries. Graduated from Central University of Finance and Economics of China, Du is dedicated in public service and has experiences in ministry of finance of China, and City of New York. He has also participated in various research project on Chinese economy, including most recently a project on China’s property tax reform, in affiliation with Lincoln Institute’s Beijing Center. Besides Furman Center, Du is currently a graduate research associate for Urban Institute’s Local Public Sector Initiative. Du Jingqiang is a folk songwriter, a starter rock-climber and a regular runner at Prospect Park of Brooklyn.
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Adam Eckstein
Adam Eckstein is a GIS research assistant at the Furman Center and a rising second year M.U.P student at the New York University Wagner School of Public Service. He received a B.A. in International Affairs and Geography from the George Washington University. Before coming to Wagner he worked in Washington DC and spent a year working in Thailand for an educational organization that placed English programs in schools all across the country. His interests include transportation, migration patterns, infrastructure and all things South-East Asia.
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Christian González-Rivera
Christian González-Rivera is a research assistant at the Furman Center and a Masters of Urban Planning candidate at the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. Before coming to Furman he was the research manager at the Greenlining Institute, where he has authored and supported research on housing, philanthropy, diversity in the healthcare workforce, access to financial services, consumer protection, and the green economy. The son of Cuban immigrant parents, he plans to dedicate his career to empowering communities by interpreting academic research for the purpose of increasing community knowledge. He holds a bachelors degree in urban studies from Columbia University, and spent a year and a half teaching ESL and developing curricula in South Korea. He has traveled widely, and along with his partner Aleks loves hiking and camping in America’s most beautiful places.
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Kevin Hansen
Kevin Hansen is a Policy and Communications Research Assistant at the Furman Center and a first-year M.P.A. candidate at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. At Wagner, Kevin is a David Bohnett Public Service Fellow and writes online op-ed contributions as a member of the Wagner Review. Before joining the Furman Center, Kevin worked in Washington, D.C.’s Executive Office of the Mayor, where he oversaw targeted mayoral initiatives and supervised the development of agency budgets and strategic plans. Prior to his experience in public service, Kevin worked for the international management consulting firm Bain & Company, where he supported a diverse range of organizational strategy projects, including several within the defense industry. Kevin holds a B.S. in political science and a B.B.A. in accounting from The University of Iowa, which he currently serves as a member of the Tippie College of Business Young Alumni Board and the Tippie College of Business Dean Search Committee.
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Ronnie Hutchinson
Ronnie Hutchinson is currently a Master’s of Urban Planning candidate at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service with a concentration in international development. He holds a Bachelor of Urban & Environmental Planning and a B.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. He is currently working at the Furman Center as a GIS research assistant and is pursuing an independent research project funded by the Advanced Institute for Transportation Education dealing with wireless technologies and transportation.
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Alex Kondo
Alex Kondo is a J.D. candidate at the New York University School of Law and does research for the Furman Center as a Housing and Urban Policy Scholar. Prior to law school he worked in the legal department of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, which develops limited-equity housing cooperatives in New York City. He also spent time with the Legal Aid Society’s Manhattan Housing Court Project. Alex is a 2007 graduate of Oberlin College, with a B.A. in East Asian Studies.
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Graham Lake
Graham Lake is a third-year student at New York University School of Law. He received his B.A. from Amherst College, majoring in English and Economics. Before law school, Graham was a Coro Fellow in New York City, as well as a middle school math teacher in Brooklyn. One of his primary areas of research interest is urban educational policy.
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Alan Lightfeldt
Alan Lightfeldt is a first-year student in the Master of Urban Planning program at the Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service and a research assistant at the Furman Center. From 2008 to 2011, Alan served as a Legislative Correspondent and personal aide to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein in Washington, D.C., where his legislative portfolio covered federal transportation finance, affordable housing, and child nutrition programs. He received a B.A. in international political economy from the University of California at Berkeley. Alan’s areas of interest include land use regulations, economic development, and transportation planning.
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Frances Liu
Frances is a second year MPA Public Policy candidate and Bohnett Public Service Fellow at NYU Wagner. She is passionate about urban policy issues and improving economic opportunities and outcomes in low-income communities. Prior to graduate school, Frances led the New York State Campaign for Immigration Reform at the New York Immigration Coalition, coordinated a post-Katrina policy advocacy capacity scan at the Center for Social Inclusion, and conducted participatory action research projects at the Urban Justice Center. In addition to her work at the Furman Center, Frances is currently researching equity-driven economic growth strategies at PolicyLink, a national research and advocacy organization. Frances holds a B.A. in Human Biology and Spanish from the University of Virginia.
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Marshall Morales
R. Marshall Morales, current student at NYU’s School of Law, graduated from Swarthmore College in 2008 with a degree in Environmental Science and Dance. His senior thesis investigated sustainable urban design innovations, funded by the prestigious Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. He received the Henry Luce Scholarship in 2008 to apprentice for the renowned cooperative firms of Takano Landscape Planning and Atelier Zo in the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan. He subsequently worked for two years in urban planning and design in San Francisco with the highly-respected Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners. He brings to the Furman Center an excellent portfolio of skills in architectural design, zoning code revision, and urban social justice advocacy. In addition, he has made substantial accomplishments in contemporary dance performance and videography with several accolades, and he is a certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor.
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Emily Osgood
Emily Osgood is pursuing a Masters in Urban Planning at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. She received her A.B. in English from Harvard University, where she also developed an interest and held internships in environmental psychology and children’s geography. Following a year of post-baccalaureate study in psychology at Columbia University, Emily joined the Experience Design group at MISI Company in New York, where she conducted research on how people interact with websites, software, marketing campaigns, and (occasionally) physical space. Her interest in people and their environments landed her in an urban planning and design ideas competition in the Bronx, where she interviewed residents about their needs in the context of community development. Her interests include affordable housing, public space, and public participation.
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Jennifer Reres
Jennifer Reres is a M.P.A. candidate at the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service
with a specialization in Public Policy Analysis. Prior to her position as a research
assistant, Jennifer worked for U.S. Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, providing constituent
services in healthcare, energy, public housing and social services, as well as assisting
with tracking press and community outreach opportunities. She holds a B.A. in Political
Science with a minor in Social and Public Policy from New York University. Throughout
her college years, she served as a Community Assistant to a New York State Senator. As
a native New Yorker, she is looking forward to working on policy research that addresses
economic disparity in New York City. -
Dani Rosen
Dani Rosen is a research assistant at the Furman Center and is currently pursuing her Master’s in Urban Planning with a focus in Housing and Economic Development at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Before starting graduate school, she worked as a Development Associate through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Dani was placed at Hudson County Court Appointed Special Advocates, a nonprofit organization that trains community volunteers to act as legal advocates for children in foster care. She holds a B.A. in Human Development & Public Policy from Boston College. Dani’s areas of interest include affordable housing development and community revitalization.
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Stephanie Rosoff
Stephanie Rosoff is 2011-2012 Housing Partnership Fellow at the Furman Center. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Urban Planning at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service with a concentration in housing and economic development. Stephanie holds a B.A. in Geography from the University of Connecticut where she focused on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and economic geography. Prior to her graduate studies she worked as a Geographic Specialist for the U.S. Census Bureau, supporting 2010 Decennial Census operations.
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Jasdev Singh
Jasdev Singh is a Database Development Research Assistant at the Furman center and a Masters student in Information Systems at Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at NYU. He holds Bachelors in engineering degree in Electronics and Communication from ITM, (Gurgaon) India. Prior to NYU, he was associated with Infosys Limited for close to 3 years as a Systems Engineer in the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance sector and worked in web development (ASP.NET) and Database Management projects. He also published two technical articles while working in Infosys: “Distributed Development Environment - Challenges faced and prospective future” and “XML based Search Engine using Stored Procedures”. His interest in database development and maintenance led him to work at Furman Center. He was associated with technical societies like ISTE, SEE and Corporate Social Responsibility face of Infosys: “Prayaas”. His interests include IT Solutions, Strategy and Planning for IT based projects and he intends to build a future in consulting solutions and strategy building of IT.
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Jessica Valentino
Jessica Valentino is pursuing a J.D. degree at NYU’s School of Law. She received her B.A. in American Studies with concentrations in Politics and Urban Studies from Fordham University. Prior to law school, Jessica conducted research for both the NYC Office of Long-Term Planning and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a civil rights law firm. Her current interests include affordable housing and community development.
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Clint Wallace
Clint Wallace is a third year law student at NYU. Before law school, he worked in Washington, DC as speechwriter to Senator Carl Levin (D-MI). Prior to that, he worked in Michigan for Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) as webmaster for her reelection campaign and then, during her second term, as speechwriter. Clint received a bachelors degree in 2004 from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
