Economics Ph.D. Students
Ph.D. students in the Department of Economics at The College of Business conduct research across economics, finance, marketing, and management, addressing both theoretical and applied questions in their fields.
Ke Lyu
Ke (Kerr) Lyu will be on the job market for the 2025–2026 academic year. Her research interests lie at the intersection of Entrepreneurship, Labor Economics, and Health Economics, with a focus on how public policies shape entrepreneurial outcomes. Prior to joining the University, Ke earned an MSc in Economics from the University of Edinburgh in the UK. More about her research and teaching can be found on Ke's website.
Urjaswi Mukherjee
Urjaswi Mukherjee's research field is Health Economics. Before coming to the University of Nevada, Reno, Urjaswi completed her M.S. in Economics and B.S. in Economics from the University of Calcutta.
Thomas Bridges-Lyman
Tom Bridges-Lyman received a B.S. in Mathematical and Computational Science from Stanford University prior to attending the University of Nevada, Reno. His research interests include wildfire, water, and power outages.
Qizhou (Robin) Luo
Qizhou (Robin) Luo holds an MSc in Economics, Finance, and Management from the University of Bristol and a BBA in Economics from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on development economics and behavioral economics. His work has been published in reputable journals, including the Australian Economic Review, Asian Development Review, Tourism and Hospitality, and Chinese Studies. Further details are available on Robin Luo's website.
Debopriti Bhattacharya
Debopriti Bhattacharya completed her undergraduate degree in Economics in India, followed by two master’s programs, prior to joining the University of Nevada, Reno. In her first master’s in Economics, she wrote a dissertation on the economics of education in India, and in her second master’s in Development Studies with a specialization in Economics, she focused on occupational and educational mobility in India. She also worked as a research assistant on several projects before beginning her doctoral studies. Her current research focuses on health and labor economics.
Kevin Norton
Kevin Norton received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Sonoma State University. His research interests are in applied microeconomics/microeconometrics with an emphasis on public economics and the economics of casinos/gambling.
Daniyal Butt
Kaiana Miller
Sriparna Bhattacharjee
Sriparna Bhattacharjee holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Calcutta, India. Before joining the University of Nevada, Reno, she worked as an academic associate at the Indian Institute of Management. Her research focuses on financial markets with an emphasis on behavioral finance and experimental economics, particularly understanding how individual decision-making and behavioral biases influence market behavior and policy-relevant outcomes. Her recent projects examine the long-run dynamics of equity capital gains across developed countries. At the University, she teaches Principles of Statistics II.
Mengfei Zhang
Mengfei Zhang holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Durham University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Macau. Her research focuses on behavioral economics, particularly investor and consumer behavior, and she is currently working on a paper about China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program.
Merinda Zywicz
Merinda is interested in a range of economic topics related to inequality and social wellbeing. She holds a BA in International Development from UC Berkeley, where she concentrated on rural development in Latin America. She is passionate about using rigorous research to inform policy and promote a more inclusive and prosperous world. Her current areas of focus are public economics and meta-analysis.
Minh Nguyen
Aastha Pudasainee
Aastha Pudasainee holds an M.S. in Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics from Michigan State University and an M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics from Virginia Tech. Her research interests include workforce development, clean energy, and regional economic transformation. She currently contributes to applied economic projects through the University Center for Economic Development and the Nevada Tech Hub initiative.
Adetomiwa Adesokan
Adetomiwa Adesokan earned an MSc in Economics from the University of Ibadan and a BSc in Economics from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. His research interests include Environmental Economics, Macroeconomics, Cybersecurity, and Artificial Intelligence, with recent publications exploring cybersecurity risks, financial sector resilience, and climate-economy dynamics. More about his work can be found on his personal website.
Greyson Hulet
Mohammadamin Atharirad
Mohammadamin Atharirad earned his Bachelor's in Economics and his Master's in Energy Economics from the University of Mazandaran, Iran. His research interests include energy economics, natural resource economics, and environmental economics.
Weinan Liu
Weinan Liu earned a BS in Statistics and Economics from Iowa State University in May 2022 and an MA in Economics from the University of Kansas in May 2024. His research interests include applied microeconomics, with a focus on labor and health, econometrics, and urban and regional research.
Kamrul Hassan
Kehinde Agbeni
Kehinde Agbeni previously served as a Research and Teaching Assistant at Lagos State University and taught at Zamfara College of Arts and Sciences, as well as several Nigerian high schools. He holds a B.Sc. in Economics Education and a Diploma in Business Accounting from CIMA, UK. His research focuses on development, health, and environmental economics, particularly the economic and health impacts of environmental pollution. More information can be found on his website.
Ph.D. Placements
The Department of Economics is proud to present alumni that have taken positions in academia and in the private sector. We wish you continued success.
- John Appert, Ph.D 2025
Dissertation title: The Economics of Crime and Punishment: A Computational Approach
Primary Advisor: Mark Pingle
Placement: Self-Employed Entrepreneur - Trevor McLemore, Ph.D. 2025
Dissertation title: Entrepreneurship in Times of Changing Technology and Labor Markets
Primary Advisor: Frank Fossen
Placement: US Navy Reserve - Randall Chicola, Ph.D. 2024
Dissertation title: Three Empirical Essays in Public Economics
Primary Advisor: Frank Fossen and Anna Sokolova
Placement: Economic Analyst Chugach Electric Association - Mauricio Solorio, Ph.D. 2024
Dissertation Title: Essays on Behavioral Economics and the Utility of Gambling
Primary Advisor: Federico Guerrero
Placement: Executive Branch Economist for the State of Nevada - Irem Thomas, Ph.D 2023
Dissertation Title: Essays on Energy and Behavioral Financial Economics
Primary Advisor: Federico Guerrero
Placement: Renewable Energy Development Associate, Estuary Power - Aina Katsikas, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation Title: The Implications of Public Policies on Health Economics
Primary Advisor: Sankar Mukhopadhyay
Placement: Senior Research Scientist, Humana Healthcare Research - Niaz Murshed Chowdhury, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: Essays in Economics: Analyzing Homeowners’ Willingness-to-Pay for Wildfire Risk Mitigation, and the Overlapping Generations (OG) Model of Interest Rate Dynamics
Primary Advisor: Michael Taylor
Placement: Research Data Specialist III, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) - Rachel M Flanigan, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: Microeconometric Essays on Entrepreneurship
Primary Advisor: Frank Fossen
Placement: Research Coordinator, Ozmen Center for Entrepreneurship - Dat Tien Huynh, Ph.D. 2023
Dissertation title: Three Essays in Applied Economic
Primary Advisor: Mark Pingle
Placement: Data Analyst II, ADM Associates - Olga Shapoval, Ph.D. 2021
Dissertation Title: The Economic and Behavioral Impacts of Mandatory Health Programs and Education Policies
Primary Advisor: Sankar Mukhopadhyay
Placement: Instructor in Economics, Samford University - Mobarak Hossain, Ph.D. 2021
Dissertation Title: Three Essays on Labor Supply Focusing on Entrepreneurship and Health Insurance
Primary Advisor: Sankar Mukhopadhyay
Initial Placement: Math Instructor, Tohono O'odham Community College
Current Placement: Lecturer, Department of Economics, Finance, and Accounting, Northern Arizona University - Sourik Banerjee, Ph.D. 2021
Dissertation Title: Determining Interest Rates and Reasons Why Countries Prematurely Exit International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Supported Programs
Primary Advisor: Mark Pingle
Initial Placement: Lecturer, Seattle University
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Economics, California State University-Stanislaus (Starting Fall 2022) - Ege Can, Ph.D. 2021
Dissertation Title: Essays on Self-Employment, Income Taxation, Non-Compete Agreements, and Sports Betting
Primary Advisors: Frank Fossen and Mark Nichols
Initial Placement: Visiting Assistant Professor, Southeastern Louisiana University
Current Position: Clinical Assistant Professor of Economics, The University of Alabama in Huntsville (Starting Summer 2022) - Ethan Grumstrup, Ph.D. 2020
Dissertation Title: Three Essays in Regional Economics
Primary Advisor: Thomas Harris
Initial Placement: Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Connecticut
Current Position: Economist, Maine Public Utility Commission, State of Maine. - Raju Mainali, Ph.D. 2019
Dissertation Title: Essays on Public Economics and Spatial Econometrics
Primary Advisor: Mehmet Tosun
Initial Placement: Lecturer, Missouri State University - Quan Sun, Ph.D. 2019
Dissertation Title: Essays on Local Public Finance and Financial Behavior
Primary Advisor: Mehmet Tosun
Initial Placement: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Michigan State University and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln
Current Placement: Assistant Professor, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics - Mina Mahmoudi, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation Title: Three Essays in Macroeconomics
Primary Advisor: Mark Pingle
Initial Placement: Lecturer, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Eric Gibbons, Ph.D. 2018
Dissertation Title: Taking Labor to Task: Three Essays in Labor Economics Employing the Task Approach
Primary Advisor: Todd Sorensen
Initial Placement: Visiting Assistant Professor, Ohio State University at Marion
Current Position: Senior Lecturer, The Ohio State University at Columbus (Starting Fall 2022) - Abdoulaye Ouedraogo, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation Title: Essays on Regional, Resource and Public Economics
Primary Advisor: Mehmet Tosun
Initial Placement: Extended Term Consultant, World Bank
Current Position: Country Economist, World Bank - Florina Salaghe, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation Title: Decision Making Under Risk and Uncertainty
Primary Advisor: Thomas Harris
Placement: Assistant Professor, Benedictine University - Miaomiao Zou, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation Title: Three Essays on Ex-ante and Ex-post Evaluation of Public Policies
Primary Advisor: Sankar Mukhopadhyay
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, Nanjing Audit University
Current Position: Associate Professor, Nanjing Audit University - Jeffery Stroup, Ph.D. 2017
Dissertation Title: Three Regional Economics Essays: Economic Impacts of Elders and Opioid Prescribing Patterns
Primary Advisor: Thomas Harris
Initial Placement: Economist (III), State of Nevada, Department of Health and Human Services
Current Position: Management Analyst (III), Division of Health Care Financing and Policy, State of Nevada - Isaac V Humpherys, Ph.D. 2016
Dissertation Title: Analysis of Behavior in Housing, Charity and Education
Primary Advisor: Mark Pingle
Initial Placement: Economist (II), State of Nevada, Department of Health and Human Services
Current Position: Data Analyst, PC-Doctor - Dimitra Papadovasilaki, Ph.D. 2016
Dissertation Title: Three Essays on Financial Crises
Primary Advisor: Federico Guerrero
Initial Placement: Lecturer, Boise State University
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Lake Forest College - Eugenia Larmore, Ph.D. 2016
Dissertation Title: Methodologies for Forecast Modeling for Small Areas with Limited Data Availability and Unique Tax Structures
Primary Advisor: Thomas Harris
Placement: Founder and President, EKAY Consultants, Inc. - Rattaphon Wuthisatian, Ph.D. 2015
Dissertation Title: Essays in Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Primary Advisor: Mark Pingle
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, Shanghai Tech University
Current Position: Associate Professor, Southern Oregon University - Amanda Safford, Ph.D. 2015
Dissertation Title: Three Essays in Microeconomic Decision Making: Experimental and Empirical Studies
Primary Advisor: Mark Pingle
Initial Placement: Economist, Nevada Energy
Current Position: Director of Operations, Northern Nevada, Academica Nevada, LLC - Joseph P. Crouse, Ph.D. 2014
Dissertation Title: Three Essays in Applied Microeconomics: Crime, Education & Health
Primary Advisor: Mark Nichols
Initial Placement: Economist, Vocational Economics Inc.
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Wilson College - Karl R. Geisler, Ph.D. 2013
Dissertation Title: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics
Primary Advisor: Mark Nichols
Initial Placement: Assistant Professor, New Mexico State University
Current Position: Associate Professor, Idaho State University