Ardyn Nordstrom

• PhD in Economics (Queen’s University)
• MA in Economics (Carleton University)
• Bachelor of Commerce (Carleton University)

Professor Nordstrom is an applied microeconomist specializing in economic development, education, food security, and gender equality. Her research focuses on how information and other interventions affect behaviour in education and public health, and attitudes about gender equality. Prof. Nordstrom has designed and implemented numerous randomized control trials, mixed-methods evaluations, and cost-benefit analyses of projects with international agencies, governments, and NGOs. This includes projects with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom’s Agency for International Development (UKAID), Alberta Health Services, Employment and Social Development Canada, World Vision International, World Vision US, World Vision Canada, the Copenhagen Consensus Center, and the Government of Malawi’s National Planning Commission. Her work includes projects in Canada, Zimbabwe, El Salvador, Honduras, Cambodia, Brazil, Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Rwanda, and Uganda. Since 2021, Prof. Nordstrom has been a member of the Canadian Women Economics Committee. Since 2025, she is also on the Editorial Board for the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation.

SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2024-2026)

SSHRC Partnership Engagement Grant (2023-25)

SPPA Professor of the Year (2023-24)

SSHRC Doctoral Research Award (2021-22)

Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2016-21)

Mitacs Research Award (2017-2021)

• Nordstrom, A., & Cotton, C. S. (2025). The Impact of a Severe Drought on Girls’ Attendance and Learning. American Educational Research Journal, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312251331025 
• C. Cotton, F. McIntyre, A. Nordstrom and J. Price, “Correcting for bias in hot hand analysis: An application to youth golf”, Journal of Economic Psychology, December 2019
• Cotton, Christopher S., Ardyn Nordstrom, Jordan Nanowski, and Eric Richert. “Can Discussions about Girls’ Education Improve Academic Outcomes? Evidence from a Randomized Development Project.” The World Bank Economic Review (2024): lhae021.

• Endline Evaluation of IGATE-T (2021) – for World Vision UK, with Heather Britt, Christopher S. Cotton, Jay MacKinnon, Zachary Robb, Shannon Veenstra, and Lindsay Wallace
• Cost-Benefit Analysis: Improving the Quality of Primary School Education in Malawi (2021) – for Copenhagen Consensus Center and the African Institute for Development Policy, with colleagues.
• Cost-Benefit Analysis: Reducing Secondary School Dropout Rates in Malawi (2021) – for Copenhagen Consensus Center and the African Institute for Development Policy, with colleagues.
• An Empirical Analysis of the Relationships Between Trade and Food Security (2020) – for USAID Kenya/East Africa, with Huw-Lloyd Ellis, Edward Carr, and Deanna Gordon
• Understanding the Relationships Between Trade and Food Security: A Landscape Map (2020) – for USAID Kenya/East Africa, with Huw-Lloyd Ellis, Edward Carr, Anthony Cambas, and Deanna Gordon
• IGATE-T Midline Evaluation Report (2020) – for World Vision UK, with Christopher S. Cotton and Shannon Davis
• Cost Benefit Analysis of Youth Ready Programs in Central America (2019) – for World Vision Canada, with Bahman Kashi
• IGATE-T Baseline Evaluation Report (2018) – for World Vision UK, with Christopher S. Cotton, Bahman Kashi, and Jay MacKinnon
• Contributor: Survey development and data analysis for Laura Vanderkam’s popular non-fiction book “Off the Clock” (2017)

• Supporting Formal Education in the Global South (2023)