James Desjarlais
Research Specialist
James Desjarlais is a research specialist in quantitative methods at the Buffett Institute. Before he joined the Institute in 2025, James was a survey statistician with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a data analyst for the U.S. Army while maintaining his affiliation as a Reserve officer. As a member of the Applied Research team, he leverages his data-focused and team-building background to uncover lasting and continuous improvements to the early childhood care and education systems.
He received a master's degree in statistics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from the United States Military Academy in 2009.
Research interests:
- Survey Methodology
- Quantitative Research Methods
- Data Management
- Probability in Decision Analysis