Mentor: Chris Clapp, Assistant Instructional Professor, Harris School of Public Policy
Qilin Zhou is a Master’s student in Computational Analysis and Public Policy at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. Her previous work spans machine learning, spatial analysis, and causal inference in social science research, with applications in healthcare and financial analysis. This summer, she is working with Professor Chris Clapp to assess the economic impact of the BP oil spill. By linking parcel-level housing data with geospatial records of oil damage and restitution boundaries, she is building a comprehensive dataset to support hedonic pricing models—regressions that estimate how environmental damage and compensation affect property values. Her analysis leverages difference-in-differences and boundary discontinuity designs to inform more effective disaster recovery policy.