People

M. Paz Avila, Co-Organizer

Paz is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin, conducting research at the intersection of Comparative Politics and Public Law, with particular emphasis on the ongoing processes of constitutional change in Latin America. Paz holds an LL.M. in Legal Theory from New York University, an LL.M. in Constitutional Law, and an LL.B. from universities in her home country Ecuador. She has more than 10 years of experience, having worked as clerk at the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, as visiting professional at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica, and as visiting scholar at Boston College Law School. Paz can be reached at paz.avila@utexas.edu.

Laura de Castro Quaglia, Co-Organizer

Laura is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include national security policymaking and agenda-setting from a comparative perspective. She received her B.A. in International Relations and her M.A. in International Strategic Studies from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil. Laura can be reached at lauracquaglia@gmail.com.

Klara Fredriksson, Co-Organizer

Klara is a PhD Student in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin, specializing in American Politics and Methods. She works in political behavior and political psychology, focusing especially on racial attitudes and attitude formation on voting rights policy. She received her B.Sc. in Political Science and Economics from Lund University in 2017. Klara can be reached at fredriksson@utexas.edu.

Sarah Heise, Co-Organizer

Sarah is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin studying American Politics and Political Methodology. Her research examines voting behavior and public opinion, specifically, issue ownership and cognitive heuristics. She is also a Data Analyst for the Texas Polling Project. She received her B.A. from Tulane University in 2018. Sarah can be reached at sheise@utexas.edu.

Katie Madel, Co-Organizer

Katie Madel is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include education policy, gender policy, and political rhetoric. She received her B.A. in Political Science and English from North Central College. Katie can be reached at katiemadel@gmail.com.

Past Members

Iasmin Goes, Co-Organizer

Iasmin received her Ph.D. from the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin, focusing on the political economy of developing countries. Her research uses formal and statistical methods to understand how natural resource wealth affects social policy, public budgets, and financial markets. She received her M.S. in Statistics from the University of Texas and also holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies and a B.A. in Political Science, both from the Free University of Berlin. Iasmin can be reached at iasmin@utexas.edu.