Phd Student Profiles

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Elena Berger

Elena Berger focuses on science and technology policy with a minor in energy policy. She works as a graduate research assistant for the Technology Policy Assessment Center (TPAC) on topics related to S&T and innovation policy. Her dissertation research compares the innovation in the ethanol sector between the US and Brazil. She applies the concept of functions of innovation systems to map the innovation process of ethanol during the last thirty years.

Originally from Brazil, Elena has worked for 13 years in a French multinational company leader in the chemical and textile sectors in Brazil. She is fluent in English, Portuguese, and French. Before joining Georgia Tech, she has worked as business consultant in the US.  Elena has an MSc in International Affairs and Certificates of International Business and European Studies from Georgia Tech as well as a BA in Chemical Engineering from the  University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Jess Chandler

Jess Chandler is studying Energy Policy. Her current research interests include: electricity consumption and conservation at the household level, policy space for energy efficiency, technical and economic energy efficiency potentials, nuclear materials handling, and energy supply options. As a research assistant for Dr. Marilyn Brown, Jess has studied policy barriers and options for clean energy technologies, energy efficiency potentials for Appalachia and the South, and is currently looking at how local governments can affect energy and water consumption by their constituents.  

Jess earned her MS in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2006 and her MS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech in 2007. Before coming to Georgia Tech, she served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear electronics technician and reactor operator.  She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Pablo Catalan

Pablo Catalan is pursuing a PhD in Public Policy with a major in Science, Technology and Innovation, and a minor in Management of Technology. Before coming to Georgia Tech, Pablo worked at the Directorate of Strategic Studies of the University of Concepcion (UdeC) in Chile. He was part of the Organizing Committee of the Global Biotechnology Forum held in Concepcion in March 2004 organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the National Chilean Government. Before UdeC, Pablo spent several years working as part of the team of the Governor of The Bio Bio Region in Chile as his Chief of Cabinet, and Head of the Regional Development Fund Department at the Regional Government being responsible for the execution of educational, health, and science and technology projects.
At the School of Public Policy, Pablo is currently working at the Technology Policy Assessment Center (TPAC) where he has been involved in an NSF-funded project to identify innovative dynamics in the water supply and sanitation at global level by means of case studies in Mozambique, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Mexico; and a project funded by Chile's National Commission of Science and Technology to determine patterns ruling technology diffusion in the Chilean Forestry Industry.

Married to Teresita Marzialetti, PhD, Pablo is a big fan of soccer, movies, and music, and fluent in Spanish, English, and French.

Jennifer Chirico

Jennifer Chirico is a doctoral student in Environmental Policy. Her interests include sustainable development, environmental health, and environmental justice.  Her dissertation topic is on remote island waste management and the barriers to sustainability.  Prior to starting the PhD program at Georgia Tech, Jennifer worked on environmental health issues and provided management consulting to public health organizations.  Jennifer obtained her BS from Georgia Tech and her MPH from Portland State University.

Benjamin Deitchman

Benjamin Deitchman is a PhD student in public policy with a concentration in environmental policy.  Before moving down South, Benjamin was the Regional Program Coordinator at the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), where he managed energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy assurance programs and engaged with the Inside the Beltway public policy community.  He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the George Washington University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the Johns Hopkins University.  Benjamin's current research focuses on the economic and environmental costs and benefits of domestic clean energy policy.   When not absorbing the theories and practices of the public policy discipline, Benjamin enjoys Georgia Tech sporting events, comedy (especially jokes related to microeconomics and statistical software), and exploring Atlanta and environs.

Yu Meng

Yu Meng focuses on science and technology policy. The research areas of her interest include:
- women in science,technology, and innovation
- patent and biliometric analysis
- Chinese innovation systems, and Science and Technology (S&T) policy in China
Her dissertation investigates how structural factors, particularly the level of interdisciplinarity of a field and organizational characteristics, affect women scientists' patent outputs relative to their male counterparts'.

Li Tang

Li Tang is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech, specializing in micro-data based research evaluation, data mining, and Chinese Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy.  Working as a graduate research assistant, she has been involved in research projects on science network mapping and innovation studies . Her research has been funded by Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship, the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (International Research Grants), and the Chemical Heritage Foundation (Gore Materials Innovation Project).

Li Tang was a Visiting Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovations Research, Germany (2007-2008). She current serves as the China correspondent of ERAWATCH Project and INNO-Policy TrendChart.  Before came to U.S.A, Li Tang worked with Shangcheng Telecommunication Administration Bureau as a Senior Network Manager.

Li Tang is now working on her doctoral dissertation on knowledge networks between China and the US in the emerging field of nanotechnology.

Dhanaraj Thakur

Dhanaraj Thakur is studying Information and Communications Technology policy with a specific interest in developing countries. He has done field work on ICT related topics such as sustainable telecenters, telecoms policy reform, and mobile phone use in countries in West Africa, Central Asia and in Jamaica.

His dissertation looks at factors that influence online deliberation among civil society groups in the Caribbean. The intent is to learn how we can arrive at better decision-making via such fora and ultimately contribute to policy in the region.

Prior to joining the program at Georgia Tech, he worked in the field of community development, at both the project and planning levels with the government of Jamaica. He was a Fulbright Scholar and holds an MSc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a BSc. in International Relations from the University of the West Indies (Mona, Jamaica) and a BSc. in Computer Studies from the University of Technology (Jamaica).

For a updated list of research and publications please see: http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth755x/

Aselia Urmanbetova

Aselia Urmanbetova came to the US from Kyrgyzstan, a small mountainous country in Central Asia. Her initial work experience for public and private development agencies back in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, pushed her to gain US-based education on economic and business development. Before the School of Public Policy she received a bachelor in accounting from Emory and two masters in science -- in International Relations and Economics -- both from GA Tech. Her primary research interest is in economic development with focus on environmental and geographic impacts of industrial policies.  Currently she is working on her Dissertation investigating locational characteristics that affect papermakers’ investment decisions.

Thema Monroe-White

Thema Monroe-White’s interests include indigenous science and technology policy, social entrepreneurship and economic development among marginalized and indigenous populations in Africa and Latin America.  She is the recipient of the SREB Doctoral Scholars Fellowship and a past recipient of the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship.  Currently she works with the Technology Policy and Assessment Center (TPAC) team with Dr. Susan Cozzens.  Prior to joining the School of Public Policy she successfully organized several for profit and not for profit businesses enabling her and her husband to remain stay at home parents.  She is a community activist and volunteer, speaking frequently on issues facing the global African Diaspora. She obtained her BS and MS from Howard University in psychology and developmental psychology.

Thomas Woodson

Thomas Woodson specializes in science and technology policy and international development.  For his current project Thomas is investigating the affects of nanotechnology on inequality throughout the world.  Before arriving at Georgia Tech, Thomas worked in Africa doing volunteer work and research.  For 18 months Thomas worked with college students, refugees and orphans in South Africa.  Then he worked in Burkina Faso as a visiting research fellow at the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE).  At 2iE he designed, built and tested an earth air heat exchanger for rural West Africa villages.  Thomas received his B.S. at Princeton University.  He studied electrical engineering, with a focus in electrical materials.  While at Princeton he studied novel OLEDs structures and characterized the surface morphology of transparent conducting oxide for a local solar panel company.  He also calibrated two plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition machines, one at Princeton University and the other at the University of Virginia.  The machines are being used in a variety of research ranging from biomedical engineering to physics.

Thomas currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia although he was born and raised in Texas.  In his spare time, Thomas does triathlons. His current goal is to complete an Ironman Triathlon.

Elena Berger

Elena Berger focuses on science and technology policy with a minor in energy policy. She works as a graduate research assistant for the Technology Policy Assessment Center (TPAC) on topics related to S&T and innovation policy. Her dissertation research compares the innovation in the ethanol sector between the US and Brazil. She applies the concept of functions of innovation systems to map the innovation process of ethanol during the last thirty years.

Originally from Brazil, Elena has worked for 13 years in a French multinational company leader in the chemical and textile sectors in Brazil. She is fluent in English, Portuguese, and French. Before joining Georgia Tech, she has worked as business consultant in the US.  Elena has an MSc in International Affairs and Certificates of International Business and European Studies from Georgia Tech as well as a BA in Chemical Engineering from the  University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Jess Chandler

Jess Chandler is studying Energy Policy. Her current research interests include: electricity consumption and conservation at the household level, policy space for energy efficiency, technical and economic energy efficiency potentials, nuclear materials handling, and energy supply options. As a research assistant for Dr. Marilyn Brown, Jess has studied policy barriers and options for clean energy technologies, energy efficiency potentials for Appalachia and the South, and is currently looking at how local governments can affect energy and water consumption by their constituents.  

Jess earned her MS in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2006 and her MS in Public Policy from Georgia Tech in 2007. Before coming to Georgia Tech, she served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear electronics technician and reactor operator.  She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Pablo Catalan

Pablo Catalan is pursuing a PhD in Public Policy with a major in Science, Technology and Innovation, and a minor in Management of Technology. Before coming to Georgia Tech, Pablo worked at the Directorate of Strategic Studies of the University of Concepcion (UdeC) in Chile. He was part of the Organizing Committee of the Global Biotechnology Forum held in Concepcion in March 2004 organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the National Chilean Government. Before UdeC, Pablo spent several years working as part of the team of the Governor of The Bio Bio Region in Chile as his Chief of Cabinet, and Head of the Regional Development Fund Department at the Regional Government being responsible for the execution of educational, health, and science and technology projects.

At the School of Public Policy, Pablo is currently working at the Technology Policy Assessment Center (TPAC) where he has been involved in an NSF-funded project to identify innovative dynamics in the water supply and sanitation at global level by means of case studies in Mozambique, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Mexico; and a project funded by Chile's National Commission of Science and Technology to determine patterns ruling technology diffusion in the Chilean Forestry Industry.

Married to Teresita Marzialetti, PhD, Pablo is a big fan of soccer, movies, and music, and fluent in Spanish, English, and French.

Jennifer Chirico

Jennifer Chirico is a doctoral student in Environmental Policy. Her interests include sustainable development, environmental health, and environmental justice.  Her dissertation topic is on remote island waste management and the barriers to sustainability.  Prior to starting the PhD program at Georgia Tech, Jennifer worked on environmental health issues and provided management consulting to public health organizations.  Jennifer obtained her BS from Georgia Tech and her MPH from Portland State University.

Benjamin Deitchman

Benjamin Deitchman is a PhD student in public policy with a concentration in environmental policy.  Before moving down South, Benjamin was the Regional Program Coordinator at the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), where he managed energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy assurance programs and engaged with the Inside the Beltway public policy community.  He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the George Washington University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the Johns Hopkins University.  Benjamin's current research focuses on the economic and environmental costs and benefits of domestic clean energy policy.   When not absorbing the theories and practices of the public policy discipline, Benjamin enjoys Georgia Tech sporting events, comedy (especially jokes related to microeconomics and statistical software), and exploring Atlanta and environs.

Luciano Kay

Highest Degree: Ph.D., Public Policy (Awarded 2011), Georgia Institute of Technology; Concentration: Economic Development

Other Degrees: Licentiate in Organizational Administration, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Mechanical-Electrical Technician degree, Escuela Industrial Superior, Santa Fe, Argentina

Luciano Kay has been recognized repeatedly for his outstanding scholarship.  The Georgia Tech School of Public Policy awarded Luciano Kay the William H. Read Award for Outstanding Public Policy Student for 2008-2009. In 2010, the National Science Foundation awarded him a prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grant. Also in 2010, the IBM Center for the Business of Government awarded him a research grant. His doctoral dissertation research investigates the means by which technology prizes induce innovation in recent aero­space and defense technology prize competitions organized by private sponsors and governmental agencies. Specifically, he analyzes the motivations, R&D activities, and technology outputs of prizes and their relation with industry developments.

As a research assistant with the Georgia Tech Program in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP), Kay has researched nanotechnology scientific publication and patenting activities by universi­ties, government laboratories, and companies around the world. Currently at STIP, he is analyzing U.S. and global corporate research and commercialization networks and assessing the U.S. Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSEC) program. His work at STIP also includes other research areas such as university-industry linkages with focus on SMEs, technology extension services to support industry, innovation and competitiveness in small open economies, and innovation in Georgia (USA) manufacturing enterprises.

Kay has had several articles published in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research, the International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development (forthcoming), and the Journal of Technology Transfer (forthcoming). He has also contributed a chapter to the book Nanotechnology and the Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development and produced several professional reports on diverse economic development and technology and innovation topics.

Luciano Kay represents one of the many excellent students the School of Public Policy has successfully recruited from Latin America, adding to the rich cultural and intellectual diversity of the school. To learn more about him and contact him, go to:  www.kay.com.ar.

Yu Meng

Yu Meng focuses on science and technology policy. The research areas of her interest include:
- women in science,technology, and innovation
- patent and biliometric analysis
- Chinese innovation systems, and Science and Technology (S&T) policy in China
Her dissertation investigates how structural factors, particularly the level of interdisciplinarity of a field and organizational characteristics, affect women scientists' patent outputs relative to their male counterparts'.

Li Tang

Li Tang is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech, specializing in micro-data based research evaluation, data mining, and Chinese Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy.  Working as a graduate research assistant, she has been involved in research projects on science network mapping and innovation studies . Her research has been funded by Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship, the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (International Research Grants), and the Chemical Heritage Foundation (Gore Materials Innovation Project).

Li Tang was a Visiting Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovations Research, Germany (2007-2008). She current serves as the China correspondent of ERAWATCH Project and INNO-Policy TrendChart.  Before came to U.S.A, Li Tang worked with Shangcheng Telecommunication Administration Bureau as a Senior Network Manager.

Li Tang is now working on her doctoral dissertation on knowledge networks between China and the US in the emerging field of nanotechnology.

Dhanaraj Thakur

Dhanaraj Thakur is studying Information and Communications Technology policy with a specific interest in developing countries. He has done field work on ICT related topics such as sustainable telecenters, telecoms policy reform, and mobile phone use in countries in West Africa, Central Asia and in Jamaica.

His dissertation looks at factors that influence online deliberation among civil society groups in the Caribbean. The intent is to learn how we can arrive at better decision-making via such fora and ultimately contribute to policy in the region.

Prior to joining the program at Georgia Tech, he worked in the field of community development, at both the project and planning levels with the government of Jamaica. He was a Fulbright Scholar and holds an MSc. in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a BSc. in International Relations from the University of the West Indies (Mona, Jamaica) and a BSc. in Computer Studies from the University of Technology (Jamaica).

For a updated list of research and publications please see: http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth755x/

Aselia Urmanbetova

Aselia Urmanbetova came to the US from Kyrgyzstan, a small mountainous country in Central Asia. Her initial work experience for public and private development agencies back in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, pushed her to gain US-based education on economic and business development. Before the School of Public Policy she received a bachelor in accounting from Emory and two masters in science -- in International Relations and Economics -- both from GA Tech. Her primary research interest is in economic development with focus on environmental and geographic impacts of industrial policies.  Currently she is working on her Dissertation investigating locational characteristics that affect papermakers’ investment decisions.

Thema Monroe-White

Thema Monroe-White’s interests include indigenous science and technology policy, social entrepreneurship and economic development among marginalized and indigenous populations in Africa and Latin America.  She is the recipient of the SREB Doctoral Scholars Fellowship and a past recipient of the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship.  Currently she works with the Technology Policy and Assessment Center (TPAC) team with Dr. Susan Cozzens.  Prior to joining the School of Public Policy she successfully organized several for profit and not for profit businesses enabling her and her husband to remain stay at home parents.  She is a community activist and volunteer, speaking frequently on issues facing the global African Diaspora. She obtained her BS and MS from Howard University in psychology and developmental psychology.

Thomas Woodson

Thomas Woodson specializes in science and technology policy and international development.  For his current project Thomas is investigating the affects of nanotechnology on inequality throughout the world.  Before arriving at Georgia Tech, Thomas worked in Africa doing volunteer work and research.  For 18 months Thomas worked with college students, refugees and orphans in South Africa.  Then he worked in Burkina Faso as a visiting research fellow at the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE).  At 2iE he designed, built and tested an earth air heat exchanger for rural West Africa villages.  Thomas received his B.S. at Princeton University.  He studied electrical engineering, with a focus in electrical materials.  While at Princeton he studied novel OLEDs structures and characterized the surface morphology of transparent conducting oxide for a local solar panel company.  He also calibrated two plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition machines, one at Princeton University and the other at the University of Virginia.  The machines are being used in a variety of research ranging from biomedical engineering to physics.

Thomas currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia although he was born and raised in Texas.  In his spare time, Thomas does triathlons. His current goal is to complete an Ironman Triathlon.