Approaches, Methods, and Tools; Quantitative Focus
Date & Time:
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Room Number:
C1-100
As the world strives towards achieving environmental sustainability, the need for robust quantitative evaluation methods becomes increasingly evident. This conference session aims to delve into the design and use of such methods, approaches, and tools, and their pivotal role in addressing pressing environmental challenges while promoting equitable development. Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives, the panelists will illuminate the significance of data-driven approaches in informing decision-making processes and fostering evidence-based policy formulation. Some of the topics we will touch on are metrics, data science and data quality, spatial analysis and geospatial technologies, and systems for real-time learning. Session participants will gain a deeper understanding of quantitative evaluation methods' role in advancing achievements toward integrated socioeconomic and environmental goals.
Moderator(s)
Jos Vaessen
World Bank Independent Evaluation Group
Advisor
Jos Vaessen (PhD) has been with the World Bank Independent Evaluation Group since 2016. Between 2016 and 2022 he led IEG’s Methods Advisory Function. Since 2021 he has taken on a leading role with the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI). Jos has been working in evaluation research since 1998. He has conducted and led evaluations for multilateral and bilateral development organizations in a range of policy fields such as agriculture, environment, science, education, health and others. He has delivered numerous trainings and talks on evaluation practices and systems across the globe. Jos has authored several internationally peer reviewed publications, including three books. His most recent book is titled Evaluation of International Development Interventions: An Overview of Approaches and Methods.
Presenter(s)
Daniel Runfola
William & Mary College
Associate Professor and Director
Dan is an associate professor of Data Science and Applied Science at William & Mary, currently working at the nexus of deep learning and satellite imagery analysis. He works with federal agencies and international NGOs to develop new and secure ways to measure, predict, and improve human wellbeing at micro to macro scales. In collaboration with his students in the geoLab, he also helps to provision critical baseline data to the opensource community to improve data equality around the world.
Kunwar Singh
William & Mary College
Senior Geospatial Scientist and Affiliate Faculty
Dr. Kunwar K. Singh is a Senior Geospatial Scientist at AidData and an Affiliate Faculty at the Center for Geospatial Analysis at William & Mary. His research is at the nexus of land change and geospatial sciences where he investigates how the terrestrial system can support future land conversions and resource consumption under a changing climate. He uses geospatial data and technologies supplemented with data from ground observations and weather stations to develop workflows for large spatiotemporal data processing, assess broad-scale land change and its implications to natural resources, and measure outcomes of new adaptations to diminishing natural resources. He also serves as a science advisor to the NASA DEVELOP program at the Center for Geospatial Research at the University ofGeorgia.
Martin Noltze
German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval)
Senior Evaluator, Team Management
Martin Noltze is senior evaluator and team manager at the Competence Center for Evaluation Methodologies at the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval). He has over 15 years of experience in development evaluation with a focus of evaluations in the context of climate change, environment and sustainability. At the Competence Center, Martin works on the advancement of evaluation standards and methods, including evaluation quality assessments, different forms of evidence syntheses, rigorous impact evaluations and theory-based evaluation designs.
Michell Dong
Independent Evaluation Unit, Global Climate Fund
Impact Evaluation Specialist
Michell is an Impact Evaluation Specialist at the IEU. Prior to the IEU, Michell worked on various impact evaluation projects in the fields of agriculture and health with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Over the past nine years, she has primarily worked on designing and implementing household surveys and analyzing survey data for development projects. Michell holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations/Economics from Wellesley College and Ph.D. in Development Policy from KDI School.
Conference Co-Sponsors
