May 21: Melanie Guldi, Associate Professor Department of Economics At UCF Demographics And The Economic Impacts

Dr. Melanie Guldi is an Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida in the College of Business. She is a native Floridian who received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Economics from the University of Florida in 1995. She then earned a Master of Arts in Economics from Michigan State University in 1999. Dr. Guldi worked in the residential loan industry in Tucson, Arizona and then in the securities and corporate bond industry in Los Angeles, California before earning her PhD from the University of California at Davis in 2006. She was an Assistant Professor at Mount Holyoke College from 2006-2011 prior to transitioning to the University of Central Florida.

Dr. Guldi’s research focuses on economic demography and health.  Her recent work examines: trends in US fertility since the Great Recession; the effects of SSI on family outcomes; the influence of shifting medical practice on changes in infant health in the United States since 2005; the influence of 1980s Medicaid expansions on early child and maternal health; and the influence of increased access to broadband Internet on teen fertility decisions and on U.S. obesity; and the effect of hot temperature shocks on birth rate dynamics. Her work has been published in Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Population Economics, Demography, and Quarterly Journal of Economics.  It has also been covered by the popular press in the Atlantic, Business Insider, CNN, The Guardian, Global News, and other popular outlets.