Leanne joined the Evans School Ph.D. program in Public Policy and Management in Spring 2026. Broadly, her research interests concern how social and economic policy is implemented through higher education institutions and how policy design shapes students’ experiences of affordability, belonging, and mobility. Leanne is currently a Managing Researcher at Education Northwest and is a co–principal investigator of the NSF-funded INTuitN STEM Research Hub, which examines STEM affordability and non-tuition barriers facing community college students from low-income backgrounds. She previously conducted research at Temple University and the Institution for Higher Education Policy. Prior to that she was an aviator in the US Navy.