Peter Rupert, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Dr. Rupert joined the Economic Forecast Project as its executive director in August 2010. He is a professor of economics and former Chairman of the UCSB Department of Economics. He is the Associate Director of the UCSB Laboratory for Aggregate Economics and Finance, founded by Nobel Laureate Finn E. Kydland. He is an Editor of the European Economic Review and Labour Economics. Prior to joining UCSB, Dr. Rupert spent 12 years as Senior Economic Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Dr. Rupert has held appointments at the University of Western Ontario, State University of New York at Buffalo, West Virginia University, the University of Southern California, and Birkbeck College, University of London. Dr. Rupert earned his B.S. from Santa Clara University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Rochester. His areas of specialization include macroeconomics, monetary economics, economics of the criminal justice system, labor, and household economics. Evidently, rides a red Vespa.

Kenneth Freeland
Business Officer
Kenneth Freeland joined the EFP in 2011. He is responsible for overseeing and coordinating economic impact studies and consulting projects, board and sponsor relations, EFP finance, administration, and operations. He gets in bike accidents too many times. He likes birds.

Ryan Sherrard
Senior Research Analyst
Ryan Sherrard is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at UCSB, specializing in the fields of labor economics and econometrics. He earned his B.S. in Economics and History, and his B.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon in 2016. His current research focuses on the economics of crime, and the labor markets of ex-offenders.

Thomas Fullagar
Senior Research Analyst
Thomas Fullagar is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at UCSB, specializing in the fields of labor and health economics. He earned a B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from Kansas State University and his M.A. in Economics from the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to attending UCSB, he worked for Welch Consulting. Before becoming interested in economics, he was a camel whisperer, although not a very successful one.

Sarah Papich
Senior Research Analyst
Sarah is a Ph.D. student in economics at UC Santa Barbara, focusing on labor economics, public economics, and health economics. She earned a B.A. in economics and political science from the University of Colorado Boulder. She is currently studying the effects of access to buy now, pay later services on financial well-being, as well as the determinants of female labor force participation across countries.

Rhys Tracy
Research Analyst
Rhys Tracy is a 2nd year Undergraduate student at UCSB studying Computer Science. He is also on the UCSB Men's Volleyball team.

Haotian Xia
Research Analyst
Haotian Xia is a 2nd year undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Statistics. He plays volleyball on the UCSB Men's Volleyball Team and aspires to work as a data analyst after graduation.