Jan Oledan works as a research specialist at the Empirical Studies of Conflict lab associated with the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. With direction from Professor Jake Shapiro, Jan is working on a project that uses machine learning methods to see if mobile phone data can be leveraged to infer individual socioeconomic status, reactions to violence and conflict events, and predict responses to traditional surveys. Concurrently, he is finishing up the research portion of his Master’s degree in Economics with a specialization in Development, from McGill University. Jan’s interests lie in the intersection of data and development and how researchers and practitioners can utilize novel data sources to fill missing gaps and to answer traditional development questions. In the past, Jan has worked on a whole host of projects – from RCT field work in Kenya as part of his undergraduate and masters independent research projects, to using geospatial and administrative data to investigate trade and elections in Europe. Jan is taking his “year off” from school to build relevant research skills for a prospective PhD.