I am Ashwini Shridhar, a PhD candidate in Public Affairs (Public Policy track) at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

I am an interdisciplinary researcher and broadly study fertility, infertility, partnerships, family formation, and care-giving, with an emphasis on lived experiences and on-ground field research.  I use qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods in my work. I mostly collect my own primary data(of all types) while also working with secondary data sources.

My research focuses broadly on West Africa and more specifically on Sierra Leone, where I have spent over 3 years living and conducting different types of research. 

I have a Master's degree in International and Development Economics from University of San Francisco (2019). I received a Bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University in 2016, where I majored in Economics and minored in Film Studies. 

When I'm not working, I like getting lost in Wikipedia rabbit holes, reading, watching Taskmaster, taking an unhealthy number of pictures of my cat looking cute, movies, museums, cooking, and tea. Feel free to contact me to talk about my work or anything else, and view my CV!