Joshua Blumenstock | Research UC Berkeley

Research Expertise and Interest

machine learning, development economics, poverty and public policy, inequality and crisis

Research Description

Joshua Blumenstock is a Chancellor’s Associate Professor at the U.C. Berkeley School of Information and the Goldman School of Public Policy. He is the Co-director of the Global Policy Lab and the Center for Effective Global Action. Blumenstock does research at the intersection of machine learning and empirical economics, with a focus on how novel data and technology can better address the needs of poor and vulnerable people around the world. He has a Ph.D. in Information Science and a M.A. in Economics from U.C. Berkeley, and Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Physics from Wesleyan University. He is a recipient of awards including the NSF CAREER award, the Intel Faculty Early Career Honor, and the U.C. Berkeley Chancellor's Award for Public Service. His work has appeared in general interest journals including Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,as well as top economics journals (e.g., the American Economic Review) and computer science conferences (e.g., ICML, KDD, AAAI, WWW, CHI).

In the News

photo of sand with construction machines

New Research Aims to Curb Illegal Sand Mining with Data-Driven Mapping Tools

Researchers aim to create a set of open-source tools to enable the production of high-resolution maps of sand-mining activity around the world.

Adela is a beneficiary of GiveDirectly's direct cash transfer program (Photo / GiveDirectly)

Mobile Phone Data and Machine Learning Helped Togo Government Provide Assistance

UC Berkeley-led researchers used mobile phone data and machine learning to quickly and accurately direct the Togolese government’s COVID-19 cash assistance to its poorest residents in a first-of-its-kind study published March 16 in Nature.

COVID-19 in the global south: Economic impacts and recovery

COVID-19 is threatening the health and economic security of communities around the world, with dire implications for those living in poverty. As the pandemic unfolds, the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) is committed to sharing practical insights that can support evidence-based responses in the Global South.

A rickshaw driver in Dhaka, Bangladesh, wears a mask to protect against transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

Satellite images, phone data help guide pandemic aid in at-risk developing countries

For some of the poorest countries on Earth, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a life-or-death quandary: If people continue to work, the virus might spread unchecked. But if they have to stay at home to limit the contagion, hunger and malnutrition could soar.