Expert Categories: Internal
Rita Kasa
Education:
- Ph.D. in Comparative Education (SUNY Buffalo, USA)
- M.A. in Political Science (University of Latvia, Latvia)
- B.A. in Political Science (University of Latvia, Latvia)
Research interests:
- Higher education finance
- educational policy
- social integration
About:
Rita Kaša holds a PhD in Comparative Education from the State University of New York in Buffalo, USA; MA and BA in Political Science from the University of Latvia. Her research interests concern educational policy, finance and governance with specific focus on student financial assistance policies in the circumstances of intensifying transnationalism, equity and equality in educational access. Rita is a board member in Latvia Dyslexia Association and is a member of Comparative and International Education Society. As a Fulbright scholar to the US, Rita has worked for the International Comparative Higher Education Finance and Accessibility Project (http://gse.buffalo.edu/org/IntHigherEdFinance/), chaired by Dr. Bruce Johnstone; she has also assisted in the study Religion Among Academic Scientists, led by Dr. Elaine Howard Ecklund (http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~ehe/raas.html).
Contacts:
Phone: +371 67015840
E-mail: rita.kasa[at]sseriga.edu
Andrejs Jakobsons
Expertise:
- Macroeconomic Modelling
- Managerial Economics
- Public Economics
- Economics of transition
- Labour market policy
Education:
- M.A. in economics, Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana, USA), 1997
- B.A. in economics, University of Latvia (Riga, Latvia), 1995
About:
Andrejs Jakobsons joined BICEPS in 2006. He has worked as an economist with the World Bank Latvia mission for more than 8 years prior to joining BICEPS. His interests include a broad range of areas including macroeconomics, labor economics and international economics.
Contacts:
E-mail: andrejs.jakobsons[at]rbs.lv
Research Fellows
Research Associates
Junior Research Fellows
Rūta Dapkūnaitė
About:
Rūta Dapkūnaitė is an anthropologist, who has completed MA in Social Anthropology at Vytautas Magnus University, attained the Southern Illinois University Certificate in Intercultural Understanding and currently pursuing her PhD on the topic of displacement of people through the anthropological perspective. Trained in social and applied anthropology, experienced in international relations, project management and development research, Rūta has professional experience in Lithuania, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Cambodia, USA. Her research interests include migration studies and refugees, the poverty concept in different communities, cultural diversity and differences, consumption and the consumer society, technological impact on society, kinship, human rights. Rūta is a member of Lithuanian Society of Young Researchers and the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) at Stanford University.
Contacts:
E-mail: ruta.dapkunaite[at]vdu.lt
Kalev Aasmäe
Education:
- PhD student in Anthropology, Tallinn University, since September 2018;
- MSc in Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, November 2016;
- MA in Ethnology/Cultural Anthropology, University of Tartu, June 2015.
About:
Kalev Aasmäe us a Junior Research/Teaching Fellow at BICEPS and SSE Riga since 2019. He is a doctoral degree candidate at Tallinn University, Estonia. His dissertation topic is “The Role of Reciprocity and Exchange of Material Objects in Maintaining the Unity of a Squatter Community and in Increasing the Squatter Capital of the Community´s Members”. His primary research interests are Economic Anthropology, Community building, and Urban Space.
Contacts:
Phone: (+372) 5653066
E-mail: kalev.aasmae[at]sseriga.edu
Anna Elizabete Grike
About:
Anna Elizabete Grike is a Junior Research Fellow at BICEPS and Junior Teaching Fellow at SSE Riga since 2019. Anna Elizabete Grike is a doctoral degree candidate from the University of Latvia. Her dissertation topic is “Borderland traditions: a case study in south-east Latgale”. With the expertise in qualitative research methods, Grike’s academic interests cover traditions, kinship, migration and onomastics. Grike is also a research assistant in the Latvian Language Institute since 2018.
Education:
- PhD student in Folkloristics, University of Latvia, since October 2018;
- MA with distiction of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Latvia, June 2018;
- BA of Philology, University of Latvia, June 2013.
Interests:
- Traditions, kinship, migration, onomastics
Contacts:
Phone: +371 28844757
E-mail: anna.grike[at]sseriga.edu
Janis Upenieks
Education:
- PhD student in Economics, University of Latvia, since October 2019.
- Professional Master’s degree in Socio-technical Systems Modelling, Valmiera, 2009.
- Professional Bachelor degree in Information Technologies, Valmiera, 2007.
Research interests:
- Public services accessibility, GIS technologies
Contacts:
Phone: (+371) 22019443
E-mail: upenieks.janis[at]gmail.com
Lauris Gravelis
Contacts:
E-mail: lauris.gravelis[at]gmail.com