Kyle Trojahn Headshot

Welcome! I am a recent M.A. in Government (Political Science) graduate from the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin. With subfields in American Politics & Methodology, I have experience studying infrastructure policy, climate policy, education policy, displacement, urban economic development, and gentrification. Further, I am a 2024 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) recipient.

Regarding current research experience, I am a research adjunct for the 2024 Summer Associate Program at RAND Corporation. Here, I have contributed to research exploring vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure policy throughout the state of California. I have specialized in understanding the intricacies of California sensitive water and wastewater infrastructure. Additionally, I am a Graduate Research Assistant at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. I am working on the NSF-funded DRMS project "Collaborative Research: Responses to complex disruptive events: Cognition in a socio-political context" (2049796) to examine political participation in coastal communities negatively affected by climate change and social inequality. In this role, I am the lead contact on a paper exploring how an individual's residency inside or outside city limit boundaries influences one's attachment to government and political participation.

Previously, I served as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Department of Regional & Community Planning at The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. I worked on a National Academies’ National Cooperative Highway Research Program-funded project “Guidance for Implementing Equitable Transportation Decision-Making” (NCHRP 08-162) to investigate how key organizational features and practices of state and regional transportation agencies facilitate or constrain equity in transportation policy decision-making. I also previously served as the State & Local Policy Fellow for the Advocacy Team at the education and tech policy non-profit Code.org.

I'm proud to be a first-generation college student and product of public education at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate level. My academic career began in rural Missouri at Truman State University where I completed a B.S. in Political Science & International Relations (with honors and Phi Beta Kappa). At Truman, I conducted a variety of research projects on sub-national, national, and international education policy. Following undergrad, I moved back to my hometown of St. Louis, MO. Here, I joined Washington University in St. Louis' Department of Education as the Faculty Support Coordinator. At WashU, I supported faculty researching the intersection of politics, education, and social equity.

You can reach me at [email protected], resume here.

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