This morning, I made the short journey from my Princeton dorm to APPRISE in the town of Princeton, to shadow Dr. Jacqueline Berger (*96), who earned a Princeton Ph.D. in Economics. APPRISE (Applied Public Policy Research Institute for Study and Evaluation) is a nonprofit research organization, mostly working with federal and state governments, nonprofit institutions, and utility companies. I arrived at APPRISE at about 8:30 AM and was greeted by Jim Devlin, one of the research associates there. I talked with Jim about his role at the company, as both a businesses administrator and a research associate, and he gave me some general background on APPRISE. Next, I met with several of APPRISE's policy analysts over a quick breakfast. The analysts were very warm and welcoming; many of them had backgrounds in economics (my potential major), so they gave me some great insights into the field.
In the following hours, I observed a variety of activities, from analyst meetings to conference calls to an office birthday party! At APPRISE, there is never a dull moment, and the atmosphere in the office is friendly and open. I sat in on a meeting about an ongoing project, in which the policy analysts discussed survey methodology and analyzed data, in order to make recommendations to the New York state government about energy efficiency programs. Policy analyst Ray Ward, discussed the intricacies of a specific program, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), with me. In addition to learning about the program and how APPRISE evaluates it, I gained a valuable perspective on how my study of economics in the classroom translates to an interesting real world career.
As the day was coming to a close, I asked the policy analysts to show me how APPRISE quantitatively analyzes the data they obtain from surveys. Regina Wang ('08), a policy analyst and a fellow Princetonian, gave me a first hand look at how APPRISE condenses, analyzes, and compiles data, using computer programs like STATA. This gave me an idea of some of the day-to-day work that this career path involves. Overall, I had a great time at APPRISE; I learned about some cutting edge energy efficiency programs around the country, and gained a greater appreciation for what it means to practice economics (at least in this capacity). This Princeternship definitely gave me a better idea of the field I would like to study here at Princeton, as well as the possible future career paths I may pursue. I would absolutely recommend this Princeternship to other students!
Thanks for the great opportunity!
