About

Hi there! My name is Dan.

I’m a data scientist at the Cook County Assessor’s Office, where I help estimate the home values used to determine property taxes. My work at the Assessor’s office is part of a broader interest in institutional reform and pushing local governments to use modern data tools and techniques.

Before now, I was a grad student at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, where I researched healthcare and spatial accessibility.

In my free time, I like to read, rock climb, and hang out with my cat Mimi. I also love R and its amazing community, and briefly taught courses on how to use R for public policy work.

Colophon

This website is heavily inspired by Tom MacWright’s blog, though it’s built from scratch using Hugo, rather than Jekyll. I really admire Tom’s work and general approach to design and software, so I’m trying to replicate some of his best ideas while adding my own touches.

I also admire the work/website of Cassidy Williams and Julia Evans, whose prolific content inspired the creation of this site.

If you like this site, you can find the source on my GitHub.