Our Team

Margaret joined CLOSUP as our research and data specialist in September 2023, after having worked at the Center as a student policy analyst during her master's program in the Ford School. During her studies, Margaret worked on CLOSUP's Fiscal Health…

Stephanie Leiser is a lecturer at the Ford School and leads the Michigan Local Government Fiscal Health Project at the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP). Her general area of interest is in public finance, budgeting, and financial…

Lizett is a Policy Analyst supporting CLOSUP’s Michigan Redistricting Project. She is a masters student at the Ford School (Class of 2024), and has a B.A. degree in History with minors in Labor and Workplace Studies and Chicana/o Studies from the…

Ishan is a research assistant working with coding public comments from recent Michigan elections for CLOSUP and MICRC. He is a junior in the BA program at the Ford School working towards a focus area of data analysis with an emphasis on urban policy…

Vic is a student policy analyst studying local recycling policy in Michigan communities for the Michigan Local Recycling Policy Program (MiLRePP). She is currently an undergraduate student at the College of Literature, Science, and Arts (Class of…

Michael is a research assistant for Democracy & Debate, a university-wide educational initiative. He is a bachelors of business administration student at the Ross School (Class of 2025), concentrating in business economic and public policy. Michael…

Malak is a research assistant for CLOSUP's Redistricting Project working to code data submitted to the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC). She is a junior at the Ford School majoring in public policy and minoring in…

Deven is a Research Assistant with CLOSUP’s Michigan Local Recycling Policy Project. He is an undergraduate student (Class of 2025) majoring in Public Policy with a minor in Energy Science and Policy. Deven is most interested in sustainability…

Farah is a Policy Analyst for CLOSUP's Local Fiscal Health Project. She is an incoming masters student at the Ford School (Class of 2025) and has a B.S. degree in BHS and political science from the University of Michigan College of Literature,…

Sylvia is a research assistant through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) assisting in supporting the current administration of the MPPS, as well as upcoming releases. She is from Miami, Florida and presently is a first-year…

Om is a research assistant supporting the release and analysis of CLOSUP's Michigan Public Policy Survey. He is currently an undergraduate student in the College of Literature, Science, and Arts, tentatively majoring in political science. Om is most…

Parker is a research assistant studying Michigan's Independent Redistricting Commission for the CLOSUP center. He is a junior at the Ford School with a concentration in the intersection of economics and criminal justice. He is interested in public…

Major is a research assistant studying Michigan's local and state recycling for CLOSUP's Michigan Local Recycling Policy Program. He is a dual masters student at the Ford School (Class of 2026) and at the School of Environment and Sustainability…

Jo is a Policy Analyst working to report data from CLOSUP's 2023 Michigan Public Policy Survey. She is a Masters student at the School for Environment and Sustainability (class of 2025), and has a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of…

Sarrah Ahmed is a Policy Analyst working on the Fiscal Health project to create a tool for converting financial data into tagged XBRL format. She is set to graduate with a bachelor’s in information science and a minor in Public Policy in the Fall of…

Mia is a Research Assistant for Close UP on the U.P. She is an undergrad at LSA (class of 2024) studying German, Linguistics, and Translation. Mia is from the Upper Peninsula and is interested in the attitudes and policies of U.P…

Elizabeth is a Policy Analyst helping the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission incorporate public comments in the senate map redraw process. She recently earned a Master of Public Policy at the Ford School (Class of 2024) and holds…

Danielle Hamer is a Policy Analyst conducting analysis and reports to support the integration of public input in Michigan's redistricting process. She is a newly graduated Master of Public Policy from the Ford School. Danielle has a background in…

Ingrid is a research assistant working on the results of the summer 2024 MPSS survey. She is an undergraduate studying political science and Spanish. Ingrid is interested in the intersection of law and policy and hopes to attend law school after…

Katelyn is a research assistant who is analyzing local governments in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She is an undergraduate student at the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (class of 2026), and is pursuing a Bachelor's degree in English…

Luca Kato is interning as a Fiscal Health Open Source Software Developer working on a tool for converting financial data into tagged XBRL format. He is set to graduate with a Bachelors in Computer Science in 2024. Luca is interested in financial…

Marc is a Research Assistant working on CLOSUP’s latest iteration of the Michigan Public Policy Survey focused on criminal justice. He is an undergraduate in the Ford School class of 2025 majoring in Public Policy. Marc is interested in local…

Edward Webre Plaut is the team lead for the CLOSUP team advising the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission on its public comment submissions for its 2024 redrawing of the Michigan State Senate Map. Eddie has a B.A. in history and…

Brandon is a Graduate Student Research Fellow working for CLOSUP on the Michigan Public Policy Survey, investigating challenges to criminal justice reform. He is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan and…

Chelsea is a research assistant working for CLOSUP on the Michigan Public Policy Survey about attitudes toward criminal justice reform. She is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan and has a B.S. in…

Katrina is a Policy Analyst helping to standardize municipal finance data for CLOSUP’s Local Fiscal Health Project. She is pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the Ford School (Class of 2025) and holds a B.A. in mathematics and history from Williams…