Recent Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships

The following doctoral students have each been awarded a $26,000 fellowship (except where noted).

2025

Living with Wildfire: An Examination of Volunteer Fire Brigades in Los Angeles County
Nicholas Tinoco, University of California, Los Angeles

Arrested, Deported, and Returned: Reentry Experiences in the U.S. After Deportation
Angie Monreal, University of California, Irvine

Upzoning and Neighborhood Change: Evidence from Los Angeles
Idil Tanrisever, University of California, Irvine

Punishing the “Other”: Formerly Incarcerated Asian American Incorporation, Banishment and Organizing
Michael Nishimura, University of California, Santa Barbara
Award Amount: $10,000

Shifting from State to County Control: Exploring Local Governance of Juvenile Justice Systems
Julia Lesnick, University of California, Los Angeles

Property Values, Mello-Roos Tax and Efficient Local Public-Good Provision
Renee Lee, University of California, Irvine

Public Housing, the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, and the Future of South Central Los Angeles
Richard Kirk, University of California, Los Angeles

The Journey to School in Los Angeles: Exploring Student Travel Behavior and Transportation Policy
Samuel Speroni, University of California, Los Angeles

Datafied Arenas: Stadium Surveillance and Public Safety in Los Angeles
Pratik Nyaupane, University of Southern California

Climate Shocks and Coastal Air: How Global Shipping Disruptions Impact Public Health
Phillip Lee, University of Southern California

2024

Rent Relief Resurgence: Impacts of Emergency Rental Assistance on the Rental Housing Market
Lizhong Liu, University of Southern California

Street Medicine: Coaching, Sorting, and Healing the Unhoused
Irene Del Mastro Naccarato, University of California, Los Angeles

Shelter for Employment Growth: Responding to Housing Shortages
Seongmoon Cho, University of Southern California

From Application to Agreement: Unpacking Landlord Rental Decisions with Housing Subsidy Recipients
Alex Sizemore, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Building Equity: Exploring the Impact of Housing on Preterm Birth in a Warming Los Angeles
Hasibe Caballero-Gomez, University of California, Los Angeles

Building Through Uncertainty: An Organizational Analysis of Low-Income Housing Development in LA
Katherine Smock, University of California, Los Angeles

Equity in Policy Responses to Climate Change in Los Angeles County
Alexandra Ntazinda, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Sex Work and the Regulatory Liminality of Rights: Activism in Los Angeles and Beyond
Alisson Rowland, University of California, Irvine

Cannabis Legalization in California: A Critical View on Socio-Legal Change
Ekaterina Moiseeva, University of California, Irvine