Verena McClain
Lead Research Associate
Contact
VerenaMcClain@westat.comOverview
Verena McClain, PhD, is a Lead Research Associate for Education and Social Policy with more than 5 years of experience in food and nutrition research. With a background in agricultural economics, she brings strong expertise in quantitative methods, including data analysis, multivariate regression modeling, and optimization modeling. Her work includes contributions to food pricing and dietary guidance analyses, as well as research that informs nutrition policy and program design.
McClain’s work focuses on improving the quality and usability of complex data sources. She leads efforts in data cleaning, management, and analysis of large administrative datasets. She also contributes to integrating a range of data sources, from household data to retail scanner data, to support more comprehensive insights into food purchasing behaviors and nutrition outcomes.
Education
- PhD, Agricultural Economics, Purdue University
- MS, Agricultural Economics, Universität Hohenheim, Germany
- BS, Horticultural Sciences, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany