Staff
Director of the Public Policy Research Center
Research Associate Professor in Public Policy Administration
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
B.J. (UM-Columbia), Ph.D. (St. Louis University)
In January, 2003, Mark Tranel was named as Public Policy Research Center's Director. Dr. Tranel joined the PPRC in 1990 as Senior Research Analyst. In 2000 he became the Director of the PPRC's Division of Research. Over the past 15 years, Dr. Tranel has been the principal investigator or research project manager on over 50 applied research projects in the metropolitan St. Louis area.
Dr. Tranel received his doctorate in public policy analysis and administration from St. Louis University. He has taught public administration in the UM-St. Louis Department of Political Science, and economic development at the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Department of Public Administration and Policy Analysis.
He is an active participant in a number of housing and community development organizations including service as a member of the Board of Directors of North County, Inc and the Missouri Budget Project. In 1999, the exhibited his photographic work, "Street Banners, Urban Identity and Information" and "Metromorphosis" in 2001.
Prior to joining the staff at UM-St. Louis his experience included Director of Real Estate Development, Economic Council of St. Louis County where he was responsible for industrial development sites and the small business incubator program, and Manager of Neighborhood Preservation and Community Planner, Normandy Municipal Council. In this capacity he was responsible for housing, community and economic development programs for 20 municipalities.
His recently published work includes two chapters in St. Louis Metromorphosis: Past Trends, Future Directions -- "The Transforming Economy" (chapter 3) and "The St. Louis Transportation Transformation" (chapter 7). He also recently published ""The Role of County Governments in Metropolitan Administration: A Study of the St. Louis MSA” (Chapter 4) in Revitalizing the City: Strategies to Contain Sprawl and Revive the Core . He has also contributed a chapter, entitled "Riverian Revolution", to Hidden Assets: A Connecting the Past to the Future of St. Louis. In 2006, he co-authored "Metromorphosis: Documenting Change" in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 28, Issue 2.
Dr. Tranel recently presented papers at the annual conference of the Urban Affairs Association and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
He was elected as President of North County Inc. for 2007. He has been chairman of NCI's economic development committee for five years and an officer of the executive board for three.
Des Lee Endowed Professor of Community Collaboration and Public Policy Administration
MA (Washington University), Ph.D. (Princeton)
In August 2008, Dr. Todd Swanstrom joined the University of Missouri-St. Louis as the Des Lee Endowed Professor of Community Collaboration and Public Policy Administration. This is a joint appointment with PPRC, the Department of Political Science, and Public Policy Administration.
Prior to joining UMSL, Swanstrom was Professor of Public Policy Studies at Saint. Louis University. From 1982 – 2001, he was Professor of Political Science at Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, State University of New York at Albany. He has also worked as a neighborhood planner for the City of Cleveland and as Director of Strategic Planning for the City of Albany.
Dr. Swanstrom is the author of six books, including Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-first Century, 2nd ed. (co-authored with Peter Dreier and John Mollenkopf). This text, published in 2001, examines the relationship between suburban sprawl and the decline of central cities and inner-ring suburbs. He also co-authored City Politics, 5th ed., which is a comprehensive examination of urban politics.
As Des Lee Endowed Professor of Community Collaboration and Public Policy Administration, Dr. Swanstrom will work with the PPRC to achieve its mission of producing and disseminating applied analysis and evaluation of public policies and programs. In particular he will enhance PPRC’s capacity to fulfill its mission of conducting theoretical research on public policy issues.
Dr. Swanstrom is a member of the MacArthur Foundation's Building Resilient Regions Research Network.
Creating Whole Communities
Karl Guenther
M.S.W. (Washington University)
Karl Guenther joined the Public Policy Research Center in June 2011 as a Community Development Specialist to facilitate and staff a network of community development organizations in the St. Louis region. Before joining PPRC, Mr. Guenther worked at the Incarnate Word Foundation on their strategic initiatives in North St. Louis. While at the Foundation, he managed an innovative grant giving program, represented the Foundation in key initiatives, and organized events on topics of interest to St. Louis area non-profits. Mr. Guenther received a Master of Social Work from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, where he concentrated on social and economic development and research. He also holds a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion from Truman State University.
Applied Research
M.A. (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
Jeanne Ortega joined
the research staff at the Public Policy Research Center in April
2001 as Senior Research Analyst. Ms. Ortega received her MA
at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1985. From
1986 to 2001 she worked with Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation's
Program Review Department. Her responsibilities included new
evaluation strategies, data analysis, management information
systems and risk assessment. From 1991 to 2001 she provided
primary staff support to Neighborhood Reinvestment's Risk Analysis
Committee and served as custodian of the corporate risk analysis
information system. This system tracked data on over 200 non-profit
organizations. During 1998 and 1999 she participated in one
of the regional working groups for the Success Measures Project.
Sponsored by the Development Leadership Network, this was a
national effort to develop outcome indicators for use by community
development organizations in assessing the benefits resulting
from their initiatives. Ms. Ortega is a member of the American
Evaluation Association, ARNOVA (the Association for Research
on Non-profit and Voluntary Organizations) and the Development
Leadership Network.
M.A. (University of Missouri - St. Louis), Ph.D. (University of Missouri - St. Louis)
Will Winter joined the PPRC
as a Research Specialist in August 2003. In 2006 he received
his Ph.D. in Political Science, and in 2007 he was named as
a Research Assistant Professor in Public Policy Administration.
Prior to joining PPRC, Mr. Winter served as Director of the
Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, and in this capacity
he gained a variety of assessment and analysis tools. He brings
to the PPRC a strong background in social science research methodology
and neighborhood revitalization. Previous projects have included
GIS coverage detailing census units, political boundaries, street
networks, and parcel level geographies. Mr. Winter received
his M.A. in Political Science from UM-St. Louis.
BLS, MPA (Saint Louis University), Ph.D. candidate (University of Missouri - St. Louis)
Tracey Cannon joined the PPRC as a Research Associate in 2005. Prior to joining PPRC, Ms. Cannon was a grants administrator and fiscal manager for a research department at Saint Louis University. She was also a business consultant for LaRhein Management, Inc., an organization which helps community and faith based organizations obtain 501(c)3 status. Ms. Cannon brings a strong background in both quantitative and qualitative research, as well as experience in public speaking and presentation. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Missouri - St. Louis, and anticipates graduating in 2008.
B.S. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), M.S. (University of New Haven-Connecticut)
Samrita Lohani joined PPRC as a Research Specialist in July 2006. She received her M.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of New Haven-Connecticut. While she was in graduate school, she worked as a research assistant, doing qualitative and quantitative analysis. She also received GIS certification from the University of New Haven. She has also worked as a volunteer, providing GIS analysis and data management at the East West Council of Governments and at the Open Space Council.
Public Finance Initiative
BS (University of Missouri - Rolla), Ph.D. candidate (University of Missouri - St. Louis)
Steve Gardner joined the Public Policy Research Center as a Graduate
Research Assistant in September 2002, and became a Research
Specialist in 2003. When PPRC launched the Public Finance
Initiative in 2005, Mr. Gardner was named as Director
of the unit. Mr. Gardner has an extensive background
in state politics, as well as banking and management.
Mr. Gardner served as a Missouri State Representative
for three terms, from 1975-1981, and he was a candidate
for the US Congress in 1980. He also served as the president
of several banks during the 1980's and 90's. He holds
a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of
Missouri-Rolla. He is currently working toward his Ph.D
in Political Science at the University of Missouri-St.
Louis. His research interests include state and local
tax policy and state legislatures. Gardner has testified
before several committees of the Missouri Legislature
regarding property tax policy administration and the
linkage to school finance. Most recently he served as
an expert witness regarding assessment inequalities
and the school funding lawsuit.
PPRC Gallery
Mel WatkinB.A. (Bennington College), MFA (University of Montana)
Mel Watkin is the Director of the PPRC Photography Project. She joined the Public Policy Research Center in 2003 and founded the Project in 2004. Prior to joining PPRC, she served as Curator at the Forum for Contemporary Art (FCA)--now the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis from 1995 to 2002. From 1986 to 1990 she was a curator at the Washington Project for the Arts (WPA) in Washington, D.C., and from 1990 to 1995 she curated free-lance exhibitions including shows for FCA and WPA. Ms. Watkin has held university teaching positions in St. Louis, Maryland and Texas and has often worked with youth, including a two-year full-time position with the Montana’s Artist-in-Education program. Her artwork has been exhibited nationally and can be found in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art’s Library in New York, The Fogg Museum Library at Harvard and the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Philip Slein Gallery, St. Louis, represents her work locally. In 2011, she received a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Inc. The grant supports her artistic work by providing funds for living and working expenses for one year.
PPRC Communications
B.S (Webster University), MFA (UM-St. Louis)
Becky Pastor joined PPRC in October 2001 as the Communications Coordinator. She completed a bachelor's degree in Psychology at Webster University in 1992, and in 2007 she received an MFA in Creative Writing, Fiction, at the University of Missouri - St. Louis. She is also a freelance writer and has been published in Sauce Magazine. She also teaches writing at Webster University in St. Louis. Ms. Pastor brings to the Center a strong background in community development, public policy and public relations. Prior to joining PPRC, Ms. Pastor directed the recycling programs for the City of St. Louis. She is accomplished in grantsmanship, public relations writing, and community collaboration. Previous writing projects have included work with Barnes-Jewish Hospital's Diabetes Education; the Clayton Farmer's Market; Abundant Life Seed Foundation and Seeds For Tomorrow. Ms. Pastor has been instrumental to the composition and dissemination of public information and the Center's communications plan. She is currently working toward an M.Ed. with an emphasis in Community Counseling at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Administrative Staff
BS (Saint Louis University), M.B.A. (Lindenwood University)
Telesa Nolan currently
serves as the Business Manager for the PPRC. She has been
with PPRC since 2002, and has played an instrumental role
in developing and maintaining an accounting and office system
that is accessible to the entire department. She brings more
than 12 years of accounting experience, as well as considerable
research and data analysis skills. In 2003, The Sue Shear
Institute for Women in Public Life selected Ms. Nolan to participate
in the 21st Century Leadership Academy, the premier leadership
program for Missouri college women. Telesa's selection gives
her the status of Shear Fellow. In May, Ms. Nolan received
her MBA from Lindenwood University.
BS (University of Missouri - St. Louis
Mark Fetters joined PPRC as Office Support III in February 2007. Prior to joining PPRC, Mr. Fetters worked as the Marketing and Program Director for the YMCA of Greater St. Louis. He also was the Development Director for Pallotine Renewal Center. He has entrepreneurial experience, and started the Legacy Soap Company and Mark Stevens, Inc. He obtained his BS in Psychology from UM-St. Louis in 2001. Mr. Fetters brings a strong background in cash flow management, as well as organizational and communications skills.