(Header: Left to right: Kennedy Middleton, Ming Liu, Siena Harlin, and Nicholas Newton-Chen)

GOV/LAB interns from MIT, Wellesley, and other Boston area schools work on a variety of research tasks, including literature reviews, data cleaning and analysis, writing, and more. Interested students should email GOV/LAB manager Alisa Zomer (azomer(at)mit.edu) to learn more.

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Kennedy Middleton is a rising senior majoring in Political Science at Spelman College. She is interested in pursuing a career in academia and has spent the last year doing research spanning from state level education spending to global internet outages at the University of California, San Diego. Kennedy is most interested in military interventions resulting in political conflict and examining how regimes use cyber warfare tactics and cyber politics to suppress the opposition. This summer Kennedy is an MIT Summer Research Program intern and will be working with GOV/LAB on political behavior and governance in developing countries contexts. Kennedy hopes to begin a PhD program immediately following graduation. Contact Kennedy at kmiddle2(at)mit.edu.

Siena Harlin is currently a junior majoring in Anthropology and minoring in Economics at Wellesley College. At GOV/LAB, Siena is assisting PhD candidate Tesalia Rizzo with a field experiment in Yucatán, Mexico, exploring how access to government services is mediated through brokers and clientelistic systems. Over the last two summers, Siena interned at the Field Museum of Natural History and worked as a research assistant in health economics and public policy at MIT. Upon graduation, she hopes to pursue her interests in development and aid organizations. Contact Siena at sharlin[at]wellesley.edu.

Ming Liu is a rising sophomore at MIT majoring in Finance. At GOV/LAB, he is working for the DATA/GOV Initiative, a project that seeks to empower citizens by allowing them to understand the transparency and openness of their local governments. He has an extensive political background, having worked with his local representative’s office for over a year, as well as helping with voter-motivation efforts with the last election. Outside of academia, Ming enjoys art, photography, and literature. Contact Ming at mingl(at)mit.edu.

Nicholas Newton-Cheh is a rising senior at Lexington High School. Nick is an active member of his high school debate team and has competed extensively in national and state tournaments. He also volunteers with the Lexington Youth Commission, an organization that promotes service activities to help underprivileged youth. Nick is a member of his high school cross country team and triathlon club. In college, Nick hopes to pursue a degree in political science. At GOV/LAB, he is working under PhD candidate Andrew Miller, with a focus on researching citizen compliance between state and non-state actors in Lagos, Nigeria. Contact Nick at 18newtoncheh[at]lexingtonma.org.