Research areas

Program and policy evaluation, development economics, education, cost-benefit analysis, mixed-methods evaluation, machine learning.

Brief Biography

PhD in Economics (Queen’s University, expected 2022); MA in Economics (Carleton University); Bachelor of Commerce (Carleton University) Ardyn Nordstrom is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. Her research focuses on how machine learning tools and text mining methods can improve the design and evaluation of development projects and policies. Her dissertation was funded by a SSHRC doctoral award, as well as multiple Mitacs Research Fellowships. Ardyn has designed and implemented numerous randomized control trials, mixed-methods evaluations, and cost-benefit analyses of projects with international agencies, governments, and NGOs. This includes projects with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom’s Agency for International Development (UKAID), World Vision International, World Vision Canada, the Copenhagen Consensus Center, and the Government of Malawi’s National Planning Commission. Her work includes projects in Canada, Zimbabwe, El Salvador, Honduras, Cambodia, Brazil, Malawi, Kenya, and Uganda.