Our Team

PROFESSOR JON KROSNICK
Lab Director

Jon is a social psychologist who does research on attitude formation, changes, and effects, on the psychology of political behavior, and on current survey research methods. He is the Frederic O. Glover Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor of Communication, Political Science, and (by courtesy) Psychology. At Stanford, besides his professorships, he directs the Political Psychology Research Group and the Summer Institute in Political Psychology.

Department of Communication 
Department of Political Science

BO MACINNIS, PhD
Lecturer

Bo MacInnis is a Ph.D. economist from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focuses on climate change and survey research methods. She is a Lecturer in the Department of Communication, and regularly collaborates with Jon on climate change research.

Curriculum Vitae

JARED McDONALD, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellow

Jared McDonald earned his Ph.D. in Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He is interested in public opinion and the electoral accountability. He is currently working with Jon on research concerning public opinion about climate change.

Curriculum Vitae

SEBASTIAN LUNDMARK, PhD
Researcher, SOM Institute, University of Gothenburg, and PPRG Team Member

Sebastian earned his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His main research interest is in survey methodology and is working with Jon as a postdoc within the Replication Project.

Curriculum Vitae

LIBBY JENKE, PhD
Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Houston; PPRG Team Member

Libby Jenke earned her Ph.D. in Political Science at Duke University. She studies questions of voter behavior, such as the role of identity in voter choice, gender, and race’s effect on candidate evaluations, and variability in the voting models used by citizens.

LAUREN HOWE, PhD
Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Zurich

Lauren earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at Stanford University. She is interested in public communication about political issues, motivated reasoning, and public distrust in opinion polls.

Curriculum Vitae

MATTHEW BERENT, PhD
CEO of Matt Berent Consulting, PPRG Team Member

Matthew Berent earned his Ph.D. in Social Psychology at The Ohio State University. He runs his own consulting firm and worked with Jon on survey question design and voting behavior. His research interests include human-computer interactions and consumer data.

Curriculum Vitae

MATTHEW DeBELL, PhD
Director of Stanford Operations, American National Election Studies, PPRG Team Member

Matthew DeBell earned his Ph.D. in government at Georgetown University. DeBell has been Director of Operations for the American National Election Studies since 2006. His research areas include questionnaire design and public opinion.

Institute for Research in the Social Sciences

JOSEARMANDO TORRES
Josearmando Torres is a Predoctoral Fellow in Stanford’s Department of Political Science and a native of Chicago, Illinois, born to Mexican immigrant parents. He recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Survey Research & Data Analytics. His research interests center on race and ethnic politics, Latino political identity, and immigration. He is particularly interested in how assimilation, perceived group boundaries, and experiences of marginalization shape Latino political behavior.

RESTY FUFUNAN
Resty Fufunan is a Predoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Excellence in Survey Research (SIESR) and in the Department of Sociology. Originally from Chicago, he received his Bachelor's degree from Yale University in 2024 with majors in Ethnicity, Race & Migration and Statistics & Data Science. Resty's work leverages survey data to measure political attitudes across racial/ethnic and underrepresented groups. His academic and professional focus is on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, with previous data fellowships at several national AAPI nonprofits. He is excited to continue his work in survey research while contributing to the Public Pulse project database providing neutral, evidence-based, systematic reports on American public opinion regarding key policy issues.

SIERRA DAVIS THOMANDER
Sierra Davis Thomander is a sixth year Political Science PhD candidate at Stanford University whose work focuses on the political pipeline for women candidates and the institutional factors underlying women’s underrepresentation, particularly in local and state government. She also works on survey methodology with Dr. Jon Krosnick and worked at Qualtrics from 2018-2020. Sierra earned her BA in Political Science with a minor in Africana Studies from BYU in 2017 and an MA in Political Science from Stanford in 2022. 

THOMAS KAUFMAN

Undergraduate RA

Thomas is a sophomore at Stanford University pursuing a B.S. in Economics with a Minor in Psychology. He is particularly interested in exploring how economic conditions and incentives shape political behavior and contribute to bias in decision-making. Outside of PPRG, Thomas is a member of Stanford Club Baseball. In his free time, he enjoys watching sports, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.

LAVI SUNDAR

Undergraduate RA

Lavi Sundar is a senior at Stanford University, majoring in psychology with minors in modern languages and political science. At PPRG, she researches the comparative accuracy of probability and non-probability samples and how to standardize metrics of sample accuracy. In her free time, she sings in the a cappella group Stanford Talisman, volunteers on the ACLU Education Committee, and learns languages.

KEANU SU'A

Undergraduate RA

Keanu is a sophomore at Stanford University. He is interested in studying the factors that contribute to the development of individuals’ political opinions and attitudes. He is also interested in contributing to the improvement of data and experimental accuracy in the social sciences. Outside of PPRG, Keanu is an Executive Producer at Stanford’s Restorative Film Collective and enjoys playing sports.

MELODY WU

Undergraduate RA

Melody is a sophomore at Stanford studying Economics (BS) as well as minoring in Psychology (BA) and Art (BA). She is currently doing programming work, literature reviews, and manuscript writing for a replication of a news-media priming experiment. Aside from being a research assistant for the PPRG, she is also a member of Stanford's Mock Trial team (top 8 in the nation) and various other business or law-related clubs. In her free time, Melody enjoys painting, hiking, watching films (sci-fi, medieval fantasy, courtroom drama, etc.), and enjoying new cultural dishes.

JESSIE WANG

Undergraduate RA

Jessie is a sophomore at Stanford majoring in Political Science and Psychology. She is particularly interested in the study of affective polarization and how social media can negatively bias voter attitudes. She is currently working on a comprehensive literature review of existing survey incentive research. In her free time,  Jessie enjoys reading, painting, and playing tennis.

GAEL CEDILLO

Undergraduate RA

Gael Cedillo is a sophomore at Stanford University pursuing a B.A. in International Relations and a minor in Modern Languages. His main fields of study are 18th and 19th Century History, encompassing diverse regions and countries, with a particular interest in the political and ideological developments and current affairs of Hispanic countries. He also enjoys learning languages to broaden his cultural understanding of the countries he studies. As well as being a research assistant for the PPRG, Gael is also an officer at SSLAP (the Stanford Society of Latin American Politics) as Event Coordinator, and part of Stanford Wushu.

DAVID JOHN

Undergraduate RA

David John is a sophomore at Stanford University, majoring in Management Science and Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. At PPRG, he is currently researching how ballot name-order bias changes people’s trust in elections and support for reform. Outside of PPRG, he is a founding member of Kappa Alpha Pi, Stanford's Pre-law fraternity, and is involved in various other law and finance related clubs. In his free time, he loves playing lacrosse, watching football, and listening to music.