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Michele Claibourn
I am a political scientist, data scientist, and community-engaged scholar with over 20 years of experience teaching and leading research and data science teams.
My work centers on action-based research, using the tools of data science to promote accountable governance, make social inequities visible, and impact public policy.
Professional Experience
Leadership
Envision, design, and lead research projects with academi, government, and community partners seeking to understand racial and other disparities and to develop policy responses. Manage multiple projects and train and mentor students engaging in community-engaged data science.
Manage teams ranging from 4 to 12 full-time staff and 3 to 6 graduate fellows across mulitple collaborations on a range of interdisciplinary research projects.
Founded StatLab, a data science consulting service for members of the UVA community. Built a new division within the library to support the growing data science research community at UVA, recruiting, hiring, and managing a team with diverse skills and talents.
Last updated on 2025-11-25.
Director of Community-Centered Analysis, Assisstant Professor of Public Policy
The Center for Community Partnerships and The Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia
N/A
Current - 2021
- Lead the Community-Centered Analysis initiative in the UVA Center for Community Partnership to provide data tools, research and analysis in collaboration with leaders and advocates promoting regional equity.
- Teach courses on public interest data and on equitable poilcy in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.
- Affilitated Faculty in the School of Data Science, 2024-present
Director, Research Data Services & Sciences
UVA Library, University of Virginia
N/A
2021 - 2013
- Build data services team to support data use and infrastructure; manage library staff and services for the social, natural, and engineering sciences; provide statistical consultation and instruction to researchers across disciplines.
- Data Science Director, The Equity Center, 2020-2021 (25% appointment), lead the Democratization of Data initative.
- Faculty Affiliate & Lead Data Scientist, Global Policy Center, 2019-2021, develop predictive analytics on the magnitude, and duration of mass-displacement with Save the Children, International.
- Associate Director, Data Science Institute, 2014-2016 (25% appointment), contribute to services and infrastructure for data-intensive research.
Senior Researcher, Demographics Research Group
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of Virginia
N/A
2013 - 2011
- Design and conduct quantiative and demographic research for local governments, civic sector clients, and the public interest.
Assistant Professor
University of Virginia (2004-2011) and University of Oklahoma (2002-2004)
N/A
2011 - 2002
Instructor
ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods, University of Michigan
N/A
2005 - 2002
- Teaching advanced maximum likelihood estimation.
Education
PhD., Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
2002
MA, Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
1995
BA, Political Science
Rice University
Houston, TX
1993
Teaching and Mentoring
Teaching and Mentoring
20+ years teaching statistical methods and research design, policy processes and evaluation, and political behavior, political communication, and political psychology to undergraduate and graduate students.
Mentor students in community-engaged research and data science practices through classes and supplementary opportunities.
Designed and managed data and methods workshop series for student and adult learning communities, including recruiting and mentoring instructors, marketing and assessment, and contributing to select topics.
Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
University of Virginia
N/A
Current - 2018
- Imagining Equitable Policy, Public Interest Data: Ethics & Practice, Data Visualization, Gun Violence Clinic, Saving Lives with Data, Project First Gen
Community Data Fellow Program
UVA Center for Community Partnerships and School of Data Science
N/A
Current - 2023
- Mentoring PhD students in community-engaged data science projects
REU Mentor, Data Justice Academy
School of Data Science, UVA
N/A
2022 - 2019
- Mentoring undergraduate students in community-engaged data science projects
University-wide Workshops
University of Virginia
N/A
2021 - 2013
- Data Science in R, Multiple Imputation, Cluster Analysis, Duration Models, Matching Methods, Mixed-Effects Models, Sentiment Analysis, Topic Modeling, Text Classification, Data Wrangling, Linear Modeling
School of Data Science
University of Virginia
N/A
2018 - 2016
- Text as Data, Applied Causal Inference, Public Interest Data
Political Science
University of Virginia and University of Oklahoma
N/A
2011 - 2002
- General Linear Models, Linear Models, Applied Time Series, Mixed-Effects Models/Longitudinal Analysis, Introduction to Statistical Analysis, Research Design & Analysis, The Presidency and the Public, Media & Political Communication, Political Pscyology & Decision Making, Citizen Competence in American Democracy, Introduction to American Politics
Publications
Research Interests
My research interests revolve around understanding how citizens can build and exert power, how institutions and conditions support or weaken political awareness.
This includes: examining the production of social capital and how social capital promotes policy accountability; researching how citizens learn and use accountability standards during campaigns; investigating the consequences of citizen participation.
My applied research pursues similar threads by working with community partners to create analysis and tools that support resident advocacy and accountable governance.
Confederate monuments and the history of lynching in the American South: An empirical examination
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 2021 (With Kyshia Henderson, Samuel Powers, Jazmin L. Brown-Iannuzzi, and Sophie Trawalter)
N/A
2021
Bigger on the Inside: Building Research Data Services at the University of Virginia
Insights 28: 100-106
N/A
2015
Citizen Participation and Congressional Responsiveness: New Evidence for Why Participation Matters
Legislative Studies Quarterly 38: 59-82 (With Paul Martin)
N/A
2013
Hearing Campaign Appeals: The Accountability Implications of Campaign Tone
Political Communication 29: 64-85
N/A
2012
Creating Constituencies: Presidential Campaigns, Selective Mobilization, and the Scope of Conflict
Political Behavior 34: 27-56 (With Paul Martin)
N/A
2012
Presidential Campaigns and Presidential Accountability
University of Illinois Press, Series on Democracy, Free Enterprise, and the Rule of Law
N/A
2011
The Influence of Campaign Advertising
Encyclopedia of Public Opinion, Greenwood Press
N/A
2005
Gender Differences in Citizen-Level Democratic Citizenship: Evidence from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
Presented to the Midwest Political Science Association (2001) (With Virginia Sapiro)
N/A
2001
- 2001 Winner, Sophonisba Breckenridge Award for best paper on Women & Politics, Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting
Data Projects and Tools
Communication and Research Translation
Experienced writer in multiple formats, including university press books, peer-reviewed journal articles, action-oriented reports, educational materials, and informal writing.
Skilled in communicating about data, technology, and policy to stakeholders, advocates, and learners.
Adept at translating community questions and request into data-oriented tools for decision support and advocacy.
Virginia’s Geography of Eviction
The Center for Community Partnerships, University of Virginia (With Sam Toet)
N/A
2026
Eastern Shore of Virginia Livability Tool
The Center for Community Partnerships, University of Virginia (With Beth Mitchell)
N/A
2025
Eastern Shore Climate Equity Atlas Prototype
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Beth Mitchell and Lee LeBouef)
N/A
2023
Virgina Evictors Catalog
The Equity Center, University of Virginia and The RVA Eviction Lab, Virginia Commonwealth University
N/A
2023 - 2022
Charlottesville Region Climate Equity Atlas
Picturing Climate Justice Exhibit, UVA Equity Center and the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center
N/A
2022
How Easily Can You Shelter in Place?
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Sam Powers)
N/A
2020
Voices for Equity
The Equity Center, University of Virginia
N/A
2020
- Inferential and predictive modeling
- Data visualization and computation
- Spatial analysis
- Text analytics
- Qualitative methods
- R, RStudio, Shiny
- Git, GitHub
- Stata, SPSS, SAS
Grants and Awards
Redressing mental health inequities: Developing and testing a youth mental health dashboard ($441K)
Precision Health Initiative at UVA
N/A
2026 - 2024
- With Michael Lyons, Faith Zabek, Catherine Bradshaw, and Coby Meyers
Building Capacity for Data-driven Adaptation in Rural Coastal Communities ($5M)
National Science Foundation, Coasts and People
N/A
2026 - 2021
- Senior Personnel (PI: Karen McGlathery)
A Housing Justice Atlas for Virginia ($25K)
4-VA at UVA Collaborative Research Program, University of Virginia
N/A
2021
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Barbara Brown Wilson
Needs Assessment and Development of a Proprietary Eviction Database ($20K)
Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission
N/A
2021
The Charlottesville Regional Equity Atlas: Co-Creating with Our Community ($87.5K)
New Venture Fund’s Public Interest Technology University Network Challenge
N/A
2021
- Principal Investigator, with Barbara Brown Wilson
Building a Collaborative Regional Equity Atlas ($150K)
Institute for Museum and Library Services
N/A
2020 - 2018
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Rebecca Coleman
Thrive Grant for Project First Gen Plus ($4K)
Office of the Provost and Center for Teaching Excellence, University of Virginia
N/A
2019
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Paul Martin
A Data Catalog to Promote Access to Open Health Data ($19K)
National Network of Libraries of Medicine
N/A
2018 - 2017
- Co-Principal Investigator, with Bart Ragon
Selected Reports and Public Writing
Charlottesville and Albemarle Community Welbeing Profiles
The Center for Community Partnerships, University of Virginia (With Beth Mitchell and Henry DeMarco)
N/A
2025
Gun Violence in Charlottesville & Albemarle
The Center for Community Partnerships, University of Virginia (With Samantha Toet)
N/A
2025
Orange Dot Report 6.0: Family Self-Sufficiency in the Charlottesville Region
Network2Work@PVCC, Piedmont Virginia Community College and The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Ridge Schuyler and Beth Mitchell)
N/A
2024
Charlottesville Urban Heat Islands
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Beth Mitchell and Lee LeBouef)
N/A
2024
Stepping Stones Report and Stepping Stones Supplemental Report
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Beth Mitchell, Lee LeBouef, and the Public Interest Data class)
N/A
2023
Orange Dot Report 5.0: Family Self-Sufficiency in the Charlottesville Region
Network2Work@PVCC, Piedmont Virginia Community College and The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Ridge Schuyler, Lee LeBoeuf, and Beth Mitchell)
N/A
2022
Report for TJPDC: Charlottesville and Albemarle Eviction Cases
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Jacob Goldstein-Greenwood and Michael Salgueiro)
N/A
2021
Albemarle County Equity Profile: Centering Equity in Evaluating Well-Being & Quality of LIfe for Albemarle County Residents
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Sam Powers, Michael Salgueiro, Siri Russell, Barbara Brown Wilson, and Alissa Ujie Diamond)
N/A
2021
Albemarle County Child Welfare Study
Report to the Albemarle Department of Social Services (With the Public Interest Data Lab)
N/A
2021
Charlottesville Region’s Frontline Workers
The Equity Center, University of Virginia (With Sam Power)
N/A
2020
Charlottesville Child Welfare Study: Understanding Referral Disproportionality
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services (With Hannah Lewis and the Public Interest Data Lab)
N/A
2020
Charlottesville Foster Care Study
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services (With Charlotte McClintock and the Public Interest Data Lab)
N/A
2019
Charlottesville Child Welfare Study
Report to the Charlottesville Department of Social Services (With Charlotte McClintock and the Public Interest Data Lab)
N/A
2018
Review of Competitive Elections and the American Voter, by Keena Lipsitz
Perspectives on Politics 10: 1030-1031
N/A
2013
Red State, Blue State: Demographic Change and Presidential Politics in Virginia
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service: Numbers Count, July (With Dustin Cable)
N/A
2012
Blacks in Virginia: Demographic Trends in Historical Context
Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service: Numbers Count, April
N/A
2012
Selected Research Presentations
Data for Democratic Agency
Digital Democracy Symposium, University of Virginia
N/A
2024
Data Science for the Public Good
Women in Data Science Charlottesville
N/A
2024
Community-Engaged Research
Enviromental Futures Forum, Enivronmental Institute, UVA
N/A
2023
Stepping Stones Data: Centering Openness, Reproducibility, and Transparency
City of Charlottesville Data Analysis Group
N/A
2023
Centering Equity and Community in Smart Communities
UVA Grand Challenges Forum
N/A
2023
Thoughts on Equitable Data Analysis
Virginia Equity Cohort, School of Data Science and Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, UVA
N/A
2022
Mapping Inequity: Partnering for Data-Informed Decision Making
International City/County Management Association Webinar
N/A
2021
Discussant, Data Feminism with Lauren Klein
Online Ethics Center, University of Virginia
N/A
2021
Racial Equity and Technology
Public Interest Technology-University Network Webinar
N/A
2020
Chair and Moderator, Data & Democracy
School of Data Science Datapalooza, University of Virginia
N/A
2019
Homework and Hubris: Preparing for Community-Engaged Courses
Innovations in Teaching Pedagogy Summit, University of Virginia (With Paul Martin)
N/A
2019
Smaller on the Outside: Supporting Researchers through Library andResearch Computing/IT Collaborations
Southeastern University Research Association IT Meeting
N/A
2018
Bigger on the Inside: Integrating Research Data Services in Campus-Wide Networks
Coalition for Networked Information Fall Meeting
N/A
2016
2016 Presidential Debates: Text as Data
DH@UVA Conference, University of Virginia and UVA/CvilleR User Meetup
N/A
2016
Congressional Earmarks and the Politcs of Representation
Center for the Study of Data and Knowledge, University of Virginia
N/A
2016
Data Services as Information Services: or, Old Wine, New Bottle
ALA Midwinter Meeting (With Ivey Glendon)
N/A
2014
Population Projections by Demographic Details: A Multi-Layered Approach
Annual Meeting of the Population Association of Americann (With Rebecca Tippett and Qian Cai)
N/A
2013
Multilevel Modeling for Population Projections: Projections for Virginia
Southern Demographic Association
N/A
2012
Selected Activities and Service
Public Interest Technology University Network Steering Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2026 - 2025
MAPP2Health Advisory Committee
Blue Ridge Health District
N/A
2025 - 2024
Batten Curricular Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2023 - 2021
Reimagine CVA Advisory Board
Center for Nonprofit Excellence and United Way of Greater Charlottesville
N/A
2022 - 2020
Search Committee
Data Scientist, MDI Predictive Displacement Project, Save the Children, International
N/A
2021 - 2019
Search Committee
Associate University Librarian for Research and Learning Services, UVA
N/A
2019
MAPP2Health Data Evaluation Committee
Thomas Jefferson Health District
N/A
2019 - 2018
Data Science Undergraduate Certificate Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2019 - 2018
Co-founder and co-organizer
UVA/CVille R Meetup
N/A
2019 - 2014
Judge, MSDS Capstone Projects
Systems & Information Engineering Design Symposium, UVA
N/A
2019 - 2015
Data Science Advisory Board
University of Virginia
N/A
2018 - 2014
Advanced Computing Steering Committee
University of Virginia
N/A
2017 - 2014
Organizer and Host, UVA DataFest
University of Virginia
N/A
2016