Development and labor economist Francisca Antman of the University of Colorado Boulder will be the plenary speaker for the fourth annual Southeast Exchange of Development Studies (SEEDS) Conference, scheduled for April 25-26 conference at Georgia Tech's Exhibition Hall. 

She will speak on “Water Quality, Alternative Beverages, and Economic Development.” 

The conference, now in its fourth year, has grown from 15 scholars to nearly 50 researchers from across the country and around the world. 

Participants work in fields including economics, international affairs, political science, public policy, and sociology. More than half of the participants are junior scholars, and they will discuss topics such as educational outcomes in children, Latin American economies, productivity and agricultural markets, drivers of conflict, gender and beliefs, and more. 

The event will also feature lightning talks given by graduate students.  

“This conference provides an important platform for junior scholars to present their research and receive mentoring advice,” said Dhongde, who is also the associate dean for academic affairs in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. “It also highlights the work being done at Georgia Tech’s master’s program in Global Development Studies, which is about to graduate its first students.” 

Among the Georgia Tech participants are Dhongde; conference co-organizer Anjali Thomas, associate professor and director of the Global Development program; Associate Professor Olga Shemyakina, and Assistant Professor Robert Gonzalez of the School of Economics; School of Economics postdoctoral researcher Muchin Bazan;  and School of Economics Ph.D. students Roshani Bulkunde, Ryan Ellis, Chunting Lyu, Lin Yang, and Ioanna Maria Spyrou. 

The conference is made possible by generous support from the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, the School of Economics, and the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs.