Lauren has nearly 20 years of research experience in a range of linked international development sectors including livelihoods, local institutions, land tenure, food security, smallholder agriculture, forest conservation, and natural resource governance. At NORC, Lauren leads multidisciplinary teams in the design and implementation of mixed-methods studies, impact evaluations, and performance evaluations of development programs within the same sectors, as well as targeted research to support program implementation and learning.
Since 2015, Lauren has served as Principal Investigator, Research Lead, Team Lead or Technical Advisor for 19 USAID-supported mixed methods performance evaluations, impact evaluations, assessments or special studies of programs in Burkina Faso, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, Liberia, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia.
Prior to joining NORC, Lauren was an assistant professor in the Geography Department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a post-doc at the University of Michigan, and worked previously for an integrated forest conservation and development program in East Africa. She has authored or co-authored nearly 40 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, baseline studies and endline or follow-on evaluation reports. Her research has been published in journals such as Conservation Biology, Forest Policy and Economics, Global Environmental Change, World Development, and Science in addition to 3ie’s Impact Evaluation report series.
Quick Links
Education
PhD
Indiana University
BA
Carleton College
Project Contributions
Publications
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opens in new tab"Ecosystem Services in a Transitional Forest Landscape: Shifting Trajectories in Southeast Michigan, USA."
Journal Article | March 26, 2018
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opens in new tab"National Socioeconomic Surveys in Forestry: Guidance and Survey Modules for Measuring the Multiple Roles of Forests in Household Welfare and Livelihoods."
Report | December 17, 2016
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opens in new tab"Benefit Sharing among Local Resource Users: The Role of Property Rights."
Journal Article | August 3, 2015
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opens in new tab"Elite Capture Risk and Mitigation in Decentralized Forest Governance Regimes."
Journal Article | January 31, 2014
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opens in new tab"Understanding Emerging Market Equity Risk Premia: Industries, Governance and Macroeconomic Policy Uncertainty."
Journal Article | January 23, 2014
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opens in new tab"Economic Growth and Poverty Traps in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Education and TFP Shocks."
Journal Article | September 13, 2013
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opens in new tab"Social and Ecological Synergy: Local Rulemaking, Forest Livelihoods, and Biodiversity Conservation."
Journal Article | March 25, 2011
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opens in new tab"Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihoods in Human-Dominated Landscapes: Forest Commons in South Asia."
Journal Article | December 2, 2010