About Me

Lao-American Academic

I earned my Ph.D. in economics at the University of California, Irvine, specializing in empirical research related to public and urban economics. My research interests broadly encompass health and amenities in urban neighborhoods, how the two interact, and how public programs can influence them. For example, I estimated the impact of Section 8 Housing Vouchers on rates of housing overcrowding and the impact of the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program in New York City on housing prices.

Research

Datasets explored: Decennial Census, American Community Survey, American Housing Survey, NYC PLUTO & ACRIS, Data Axle ReferenceUSA

R for data cleaning, graphics, GIS needs

STATA for model estimation routines

Teaching

Lecturer for graduate microeconomics at California State University, Los Angeles
(Fall 2021)

Instructor for macroeconomics at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
(Summer 2018, 2019)

Teaching assistant for urban economics, intermediate econometrics, game theory, and more!
(2014-2021)

Service

Hmong Inspiring to Gain Higher Education and Recruitment (H.I.G.H.E.R) outreach with the Hmong Student Association at the University of California, Irvine
(Feb 2020, 2021)

Culture Night Director for Thai Student Association
(May 2018)

High School Outreach with the Vietnamese Student Association at the University of California, Irvine
(March 2017, 2018)

Volunteer Activities

I had the great fortune to help facilitate a high school outreach hosted by the Hmong Student Association at UCI in February 2020 and February 2021 (virtually). Hmong Inspiring to Gain Higher Education and Recruitment (H.I.G.H.E.R) seeks to motivate underprivileged high school students by providing them with an opportunity to experience life on a university campus, learning about the vast resources for higher education, and making connections. I collaborated in a team to provide workshops on mental health, goal setting, and a career panel.

H.I.G.H.E.R 2020 with HSA at UCI