Graduate Student Mentor

Mango J. Angar

Graduate Student
Political Science

Mango is pursing her PhD in Political Science at the University of California at Berkeley. As a comparativist she aims to explore the implications of electoral violence on political accountability, the effects of electoral violence on the long-term welfare of historically marginalized communities and the effectiveness of institutional reforms intended to mitigate the occurrence of electoral violence. She is equally interested in examining the effects of the weaponization of sexual violence against women during political violence on the participation of women in politics as voters and as...

Lauren Barden-Hair

Graduate Student
Political Science

Lauren Barden-Hair is a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department studying International Relations and Comparative Politics.

Jennie Barker

Graduate Student
Political Science

Jennie Barker is a Ph.D. student in political science at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studies international influences on democratization. Her current research examines recipient government behavior toward democracy assistance. Prior to coming to UC Berkeley, Barker worked at the National Endowment for Democracy and completed a Fulbright fellowship in Germany.

Barker is also a recipient of the 2021 IIS Pre-Disseration Research Fellowship.

Clara Bicalho

Graduate Student
Political Science

Clara Bicalho is a PhD student in the Political Science Department at the University of California, Berkeley and a Research Associate at the Center of the Politics of Development. Her research focuses on belief formation and political accountability with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

Juan Campos

Graduate Student
Political Science

Juan Campos is a Ph.D. student in political science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is generally interested in studying security institutions, political violence, and corruption in Latin America. His most recent research assesses the causes and consequences of drug trafficking violence in Mexico. Campos holds an M.A. in political science from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and a B.A. in government and international politics from George Mason University. Before starting his doctoral program at UC Berkeley, Campos was a research assistant at CSULB and worked as...

Tara Chandra

Graduate Student
Political Science

Tara Chandra is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on gender and international security, particularly why and how insurgents target women. She is also interested in the causes and consequences of political violence more generally across different contexts.

Anirvan Chowdhury

Graduate Student
Political Science
Center on the Politics of Development

Anirvan Chowdhury is a graduate student at UC Berkeley’s department of political science. His broad research interests lie in comparative politics and the political economy of development. His current projects centre on women’s political mobilisation and collective action, ideology in political parties, and public service delivery. Prior to this, Chowdhury worked at the International Food Policy Research Institute and the World Bank in Washington DC, and at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, India. He has studied economics and public policy at the Madras School of...

Daniel Quiroga-Ángel

Graduate Student
Political Science

Daniel is pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science at UC Berkeley. His broad research interests lie in the political economy of conflict and development, with a regional focus on Latin America. Methodologically, he is interested in the application of spatial econometrics and machine learning tools to causal inference. Previously, Daniel worked as a researcher for the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). He also held research and analyst positions in Colombia at Fundación Ideas para la Paz, Los Andes University, and the National Intelligence...

Rachel Fisher

Graduate Student
Political Science

Rachel Fisher is pursuing her PhD in Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on comparative politics and political behavior, including candidate ambition and recruitment, international development, and policy evaluation. She employs experimental methods to study gender differences in political participation.

Fisher is the recipient of the 2021 IIS Simpson Research Grant.

Ritika Goel

Graduate Student
Political Science

Ritika Goel is a PHD candidate in Political Science at University of California, Berkeley. She studies comparative political economy, focusing on democratic accountability, inequality and, upward redistribution and populism.