Our Team

Dr. Wibbels’ research focuses on development, decentralized governance, and other areas of political economy. He has worked with USAID’s DRG Centre, USAID mission officers, AidData, RTI International, the World Bank and others on projects around the world. Erik is the PI on the Machine Learning for Peace project.

Mateo is a PhD student in political economy at the department of Political Science. His research interests include analyzing the politics of public goods’ distribution and violence in developing countries. With an emphasis in economic development, migration, state capacity and political institutions.

Diego is a PhD candidate at Duke University’s Political Science Department specializing in Political Economy and Political Methodology. He is interested in issues of governance, in particular corruption and accountability. His other research interests include reintegration of deported migrants and the spatial distribution of public service delivery.

Jeremy is a Senior Research Associate at DevLab@Duke and the Department of Political Science. He studies political economy in developing countries, with a specific interest in how non-profit organizations shape, and are shaped by, politics and governance. His work has received support from the National Science Foundation and the US Agency for International Development, among others.

Hanling is a Data Scientist with a specialization in data collection and preparation. Her work revolves around applying machine learning and natural language processing techniques to ensure data integrity for the Machine Learning for Peace project at DevLab. She also contributes to designing and monitoring the dashboard for the scraping process, offering the team clear visualizations of the project’s progress.

Serkant is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Political Science at Duke University and a Middle East Initiative predoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He specializes in political economy and political methodology. His research interests lie at the intersection of the political economy of democratic backsliding, digital media, and public services.

Donald Moratz is a Research Manager at the DevLab@Duke and the Department of Political Science at Duke University. His work focuses on the Machine Learning for Peace project and the integration of advanced numerical methods in political science. His substantive areas of interest are in the political economy of development as well as endogenous growth.

Rethis Togbedji Gansey is a Predoctoral Research Coordinator at DevLab@Penn and PDRI. His primary focus lies in the areas of Violence/conflict analysis, as well as Migration and Education in developing countries. He is also interested in the application of causal inference and impact evaluation methods to assess the effectiveness of public policies.

Cecilia is an undergraduate junior studying Political Science. She is interested in civic engagement, human rights, and migration. As part of DevLabs, she is excited to learn about civic activity in developing regions and how media and administrations wield influence.