I am a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a fellow in the Interdisciplinary Training Program in Education Sciences (IES-funded graduate fellowship). My research interests are in sociology of education, social stratification, and early childhood education and care policy. My research explores how the expansion of early childhood education and care programs affect children's, their families', and educator outcomes. My work was recently published in the American Educational Research Journal. 

I am passionate about conducting policy-relevant research, collaborating with educators, and translating research to non-academic audiences. Throughout graduate school, I have collaborated with the Madison Education Partnership, a research-practice partnership with the Madison Metropolitan School District. Through this work, I have led several projects in partnership with the Departments of Early Learning and Research and Innovation. 

Prior to graduate school I worked on evaluations of education programs in the United States and in Sub-Saharan Africa. I have a bachelor's degree from University of California - Berkeley, where I majored in Development Studies. 

You can see my CV here. You can contact me at rbier [at] wisc.edu