Visiting Scholars and Research Affiliates

Annalise Blum

Research Fellow

Annalise Blum is a research fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center. She is a hydrologist and environmental engineer with expertise in water, climate, and national security policy. She previously served as deputy assistant secretary for water and science at the US Department of the Interior and as senior advisor for climate policy at the US Department of Defense. Her research has focused on a range of topics, including trends in flood and droughts, climate change impacts on ecosystems, and access to safe drinking water. She has worked or served as a fellow at the National Academy of...

Caroline Danielson

Vice President of Research and Senior Fellow

Caroline Danielson is vice president of research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Her research focuses on multiple dimensions of the social safety net, including its role in mitigating poverty, program access and enrollment, and the integration and governance of programs. Her work has been published in numerous academic journals, including the Journal of Policy Analysis and the Social Service Review. Before coming to PPIC, she was a principal analyst at the University of California’s Welfare Policy Research Project and a faculty member in the Department of...

Kyle Greenspan

PPIC Research Affiliate

Kyle Greenspan is a research associate with the PPIC Water Policy Center, where he focuses on topics ranging from groundwater to carbon sequestration. Previously he worked as a PPIC summer intern for the water center. Prior to joining PPIC, he interned with the United States Forest Service Pacific Northwest and Southwest regional offices and conducted disease ecology research as an undergraduate student researcher. He holds a BA in environment, economics, and politics from Pitzer College.

Mark Baldassare

Research Affiliate

Mark Baldassare is a nonresident scholar at Carnegie California. He is also a senior fellow at the Bedrosian Center on Governance in the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy at USC. He is statewide survey director and the Miller Chair in public policy at the Public Policy Institute ofCalifornia. For the previous 15 years, he also served as president and CEO of PPIC. Prior to that, he served as PPIC’s director of research and senior fellow. He is a leading expert on public opinion and survey methodology, and has directed the PPIC Statewide Survey since its founding in 1998. He is an...

Kellie Hogue

Research Affiliate

Kellie Hogue is a Research Affiliate of the Institute of Governmental Studies, mentoring Jo Freeman Women in Politics Cal-in-Sac Fellows conducting research on public policies that affect women, and a Senior Researcher at California Research Bureau, where she effectively combines qualitative and quantitative approaches with data science tools and methods to provide optimal research and information-based solutions for a legislative and gubernatorial clientele.

Her current research projects, in partnership with the California Commission on the Status of Women and...

Kathleen Morris

Resident Scholar

Professor Kathleen Morris is the founder of the “We the Cities” Project and a Resident Scholar at the U.C. Berkeley Institute for Governmental Studies (Berkeley IGS). “We the Cities” explores whether colleges and universities and foundations can help support local democracy and government by helping to construct educational bridges from communities into local government. The basic idea is to create a kind of “trade school” for democracy, law, and government, then actively recruit, educate, and prepare bright, community-minded constituents up and down...

Brett Guinan

PPIC Research Affiliate
Public Policy Institute of California

Brett Guinan is a research associate at the Public Policy Institute of California, where she focuses on K–12 education policy. Prior to joining PPIC, she was a research data analyst at the California Department of Social Services. She has conducted independent research at the UC Center Sacramento and worked as a research apprentice for the political science department at the University of California, San Diego. She holds a BS in political science and data analytics from UC San Diego.

Sean Cremin

PPIC Research Affiliate
Public Policy Institute of California

Sean Cremin is a research associate at the Public Policy Institute of California where he is a member of the Economic Policy Center. His research focuses on advancing upward mobility, reducing labor market disparities, and expanding socioeconomic opportunities through more equitable and effective economic policymaking. Prior to joining PPIC, he worked as a senior research associate at NORC at the University of Chicago where he supported evaluations of federally funded programs aimed at mitigating poverty and inequality. He holds a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University...

Selina Gomez

PPIC Research Affiliate
Public Policy Institute of California
Selina Gomez is a research associate at the PPIC Higher Education Center. Her work focuses on higher education accessibility, readiness, and completion. Before joining PPIC, she served as a program specialist at Hayward Unified School District, evaluating K–12 data on comprehensive academic, social, and health services for students. She also worked at Alameda County’s Office of Sustainability and as a middle school educator focused on STEM education through the Public Service Center at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental economics and...

Shalini Mustala

PPIC Research Affiliate
Public Policy Institute of California
Shalini Mustala is a research associate at the Public Policy Institute of California, where she focuses on the health care safety net. Before joining PPIC, she worked as a planning engineer for the government of India, working closely with rural infrastructure policies. She has a background in civil and environmental engineering and holds a master’s degree in public policy data science from the University of Southern California.