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. (2026). Evaluating “effectiveness” under the Policy on Results. Canadian Public Administration. https://doi.org/10.1111/capa.70053
• Nordstrom, A., Robb, Z., & Cotton, C. S. (2026). Using full matching to measure the marginal benefit of bicycles in a multifaceted development programme. Journal of Development Effectiveness, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19439342.2026.2614644
• Nordstrom, A., Maheshwari, A., Quenneville, R., & Shen-Tu, G. (2025). Combining text mining and manual thematic analysis to understand participant experiences with surveys. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 24. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069251378860
• Nordstrom, A., & Cotton, C. (2025). Impact of a severe drought on education: More schooling does not imply more learning. American Education Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312251331025
• Cotton, C., LaBarge, M., & Nordstrom, A. (2025). Canadian public health experiences with evidence during COVID-19 and a new framework for assessing evidence in emergencies. Frontiers in Public Health, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1620514
• Cotton, C., Nordstrom, A., Nanowski, J., & Richert, E. (2024). Can discussions about girls’ education improve academic outcomes? Evidence from a randomized development project. World Bank Economic Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhae021
• Cotton, C., McIntyre, F., Nordstrom, A., Price, J. (2019). Correcting for bias in hot hand analysis: An application to youth golf. Journal of Economic Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2018.07.007
• Contributions to meta-research papers: Brodeur, A., Mikola, D., & Cook, N., & others. (2026). Mass reproducibility and replicability: A new hope. Nature.

• 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)

• Can talking about girls’ education improve educational outcomes? VoxDev (2025)
• Dual analysis regarding participant experiences with surveys Canadian Evaluation Society News (2025)
• Supporting Formal Education in the Global South (2023)