Summary
Jonathan A. Solis is a Research Scientist at AidData. He is part of the Policy Analysis Unit (PAU), which produces data, tools, and analysis for governments and organizations to increase the effectiveness of their development cooperation and public diplomacy efforts. As part of the PAU, Jonathan conducts quantitative and qualitative analysis and helps frame, write, interpret, and present study findings. His policy and academic work spans foreign policy influence, China’s development finance, comparative political communication, media resilience, and media freedom. He has operationally led projects on digital censorship, foreign malign influence in European and Eurasian media, and Chinese narratives in Philippine media, and also served as the technical lead for the Silk Road Diplomacy and Influencing the Narrative reports.
Education
Ph.D., Department of Political Science, University of Houston
M.A., Political Science, University of New Orleans
B.A., Mass Communication, Manship School of Mass Communication, Louisiana State University
Background
Prior to joining AidData, Jonathan worked as a research assistant at the University of Houston (UH) and as a research associate at the Machine-assisted Human Decision-making (MAHD) Lab at UH (now at The Ohio State). He also spent four years as a resource coordinator for the City of New Orleans, where he focused on post-Hurricane Katrina redevelopment projects. He also taught courses on American and Texas politics at Lone Star College.
Jonathan holds a PhD in Political Science and focuses his research on democratization, media freedom, and research methodology. He has presented his work at numerous academic conferences, including the annual meetings of the International Studies Association (ISA) and the American Political Science Association (APSA). Jonathan has also published peer-reviewed work in the British Journal of Political Science, Political Communication, Foreign Policy Analysis, Orbis, Journal of Human Rights, International Interactions, and Social Science Quarterly.
Areas of Focus
Quantitative analysis, research design, latent variable modeling, comparative analysis, democratization, media freedom, media resilience, text analysis, physical integrity of journalists and media personnel