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Huixin (Echo) Z

- Research Program Mentor

PhD at University of California, Irvine

Expertise

community development (housing, sustainability, public transit, etc.), government policy, civic engagement, economics

Bio

I am postdoctoral researcher at University of California, Irvine, researching issues related to government housing regulation and real estate development. I have been an academic researcher for 8 years. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and studying topics on community development and civic engagement. I also enjoy talking to young students and scholars, learning about their research ideas and interests, and participating in brainstorming discussions of research design. I am trained in economics, urban planning, and public policy, and my own research is highly interdisciplinary and uses a wide range of research tools. I welcome students with interests in urban studies and social science and would love to be part of your research endeavor!

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Rent Control in Los Angeles: Past, Present, and Future

This projects explores the development of rent control policy in the City of Los Angeles and how it impacts housing stability and community integration. Students will research the historical root and current discourse on rent control, identify issues in the policy implementation process, and put forward recommendations on how to effectively address the housing needs for people at all income levels.

Coding skills

R, ArcGIS, QGIS

Languages I know

Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin)

Teaching experience

I have worked as a Teaching Assistant at UC Irvine for undergraduate courses on a variety of topics related to city and community development, public policy, and economics. My most recent teaching experience was to design and teach a half-day statistics bootcamp to introduce how data analysis is used to inform real-world policy decisions and address urban issues. I have also tutored statistics at the high school and college level. My teaching philosophy emphasizes critical thinking and ability to apply concepts and research tools to projects in social sciences.

Credentials

Work experience

University of California, Irvine (2021 - Current)
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of California, Irvine (2020 - 2021)
School of Social Ecology Student Ambassador
University of California, Irvine (2019 - 2020)
Research Assistant
University of California, Irvine (2016 - 2019)
Teaching Assistant

Education

Sun Yat-sen University
BA Bachelor of Arts (2013)
Economics
University of California, Los Angeles
MPP Master of Public Policy (2015)
Public Policy
University of California, Irvine
PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Urban Planning and Public Policy

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