Resume

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Education

Experience

Skills

Research

Workshops

Courses

Awards

References

Education

Experience

Texas Tech University - Research Assistant & Instructor

September 2018 - August 2024

Spearheaded data-driven research projects using advanced statistical analysis, programming, and data management, including advanced skills in R, Python, and Stata for data-driven research. Taught six courses related to political science methodology with a lab component in R and Stata.
  • Experience with high-performance computing and database management for scalable and efficient structured and unstructured data processing (scrapping, cleaning, merging, and coding).
  • Developed and organized three workshops in R and R Studio for graduate students in the implementation of methods for research projects covering the following topics : data cleaning, merging datasets, running statistical models, data visualization, and data analysis.
  • Provided mentorship for 15 graduate students and 40 undergraduate students in their research projects, leading to five award-winning research posters.
  • Assisted in three data-driven research projects relating to political science that included image-generation, data collection, merging, cleaning, and coding.

Executive Cabinet Composition Project - Independent Researcher

January 2018 - August 2018

Research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Iñaki Sagarzazu.
  • Data collection and archival work from the period 1979 to 1993 for the Executive Cabinet Composition Dataset for Venezuela.
  • The aim of this project was to analyze cabinet rotation and coalition formation across presidential administrations in Venezuela.

Universidad Simon Bolivar - Contractor Professor

September 2017 - April 2018

Hired as a professor for the Departament of Social Sciences. Lecturer in basic courses for freshmen students.
  • Taught CSA-311 "Men, Culture and Society I" and CSA-312 "Men, Culture and Society II" (Jan-Mar 2018).
  • Taught CSA-211 "Venezuela in the 21st Century: Culture and Society" (Sep-Dec 2017).

Universidad Simon Bolivar - IT Systems Analyst

December 2014 - December 2016

I implemented the final phase of the SIEVAPAO project, a university-wide HR solution for employee peer-to-peer and performance evaluations.
  • I developed modules for specific tasks such as reporting and summarizing the evaluations for managers and directors within the department.
  • Technologies and tools used include PHP, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, JQuery.
  • Project sponsored by the Director of Human Capital Management.

Skills

English
Portuguese
Spanish
Fedora/CentOS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux
GIMP/Inkscape
Git/GitHub
Microsoft Excel
Stata
Causal Inference
Data Analysis
Experimental Design
Google Earth Engine
Linear and Nonlinear Regression Analysis
Network Analysis
Survey Design and Analysis
Bash/Shellscript
C/C++/C#
HTML + SCSS/CSS
Java
Javascript
MATLAB
PHP/Perl
Python
R
Ruby/Ruby on Rails
ArcGIS
Node.js
React.js
Slurm
Data Mining
Data Visualization
GLM
Jupyter
Mixed-Effects Models
Synthetic Control Methods
Tableau
Text Analysis
Time Series Analysis
Adaptability
Assertive Communication
Continuous Learning
Critical Thinking
Cross-Functional Teamwork
Industry Awareness
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
Mentorship & Knowledge Sharing
Problem-Solving
Resourfulness

Research

Publications

Research articles, edited volumes, articles and book reviews.
  • Selçuk, O., & Hernández-Borges, P. (April 2025). One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: The Venezuelan Opposition under Maduro. In J. Polga-Hecimovich & R. Sanchez-Urribarri (Ed.), Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro. Routledge.

Working Papers

The current drafts from my research that I am working on, I already presented most of them at research conferences.
  • Authoritarian Electoral Engineering I: Small Polling Centers Creation in Venezuelan Presidential Elections (2013-2024).
  • Authoritarian Electoral Engineering II: Transfer of voters and electoral participation in Venezuelan Sub-National Elections (2013-2024).
  • Authoritarian or Democratic Innovations? A Reassessment of the Influence of Political Innovations in the Democratic Quality of Latin America. (with Henry Moncrieff)
  • The Crisis of Divided Government: The Effect of Democratic Backsliding on Legislative Oversight in Venezuela
  • The Long Trace of Oil Money: A Social Network Analysis of Corruption during the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela
  • The Long Search for a Safe Haven: A Cross-National Analysis of Peacefulness in Refugee-Receiving Countries
  • Show Me the Carnet de la Patria!: A Quasi-Experiment on the Effect of Political Communications on Clientelistic Control Mechanisms in Venezuela

Research Assistant Projects

Served as research assistant under different PIs, mostly providing technical and methodological expertise.
  • Candidate Appearance and Voter Evaluations. Lubbock, TX. January 2023 - May 2023. Design of portraits and flyers resembling candidate's advertisement for an experimental survey. Supervised by Dr. Steven Perry and Dr. Matt Lamb.
  • Colombian Planning Secretariat Dataset. Lubbock, TX. January 2021 - July 2021. Data collection of Development Plans and Planning Directors of Colombia's Mayoralties from 2018 to 2021, compiled by Dr. Ricardo Bello-Gomez.

Conferences

Attended local, regional, national, and international conferences here I presented original research, served as discussant for peers and undergraduate students.
  • Anual MPSA Conference, Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL: (2019), (2021), (2022), (2023), and (2024).
  • TX Comparative Politics Circle: UNT, Denton, TX (2024); TTU, Lubbock TX (2023); UT, Austin, TX (2022); Rice and UH, Houston, TX (2020).
  • SPSA Annual Conference: Hilton Riverside, New Orleans, LA (2024)
  • LASA Congress (Online): 2025 (Forthcoming), (2024), (2023), and (2022)
  • ISA Annual Convention: Gaylord Pryland Resort & Convection Center, Nashville, TN (2022)
  • APSA Annual Meeting: Hilton Union Suare, San Francisco, CA (2020)
  • Atlanta Symposium on Political Science: Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA (2020)
  • SeLAB Conference: University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS (2019)
  • ECPR Standing Group on Latin American Politics: IE University, Segovia, Spain (2019)
  • Annual Texas Tech Hispanic/Latinx Research and Creativity Symposium at TTU, Lubbock, TX: (2024), (2023), and (2020).
  • Annual Graduate School Poster Competition at TTU, Lubbock, TX: (2022), (2021), (2020), and (2019).
  • Arts and Humanities Graduate Student Research Conference at TTU, Lubbock, TX: (2021), (2020), and (2019)
  • Cross-Disciplinary Doctoral Research Conference "United in Research" at TTU, Lubbock, TX (2021)

Workshops and Professional Training

Graduate Certificate in Geographical Information Science and Technology

Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University - 2021-2022

Offered through the Department of Geosciences at Texas Tech University. The certificate program is designed to provide a flexible solution for professionals, graduate students and recent graduates who would like to further their education in geospatial technology.

Empirical Implication of Theoretical Models (EITM) Summer Institute

Duke University - July 18-31 2021

Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), this program trains graduate students and junior faculty in EITM, a research strategy that integrates theoretical models and empirical research to improve and expand our understanding of politics. The institute will integrate developments and findings from throughout political science, including the substantive areas of American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political economy.

IPAC Academic Fellowship

Institute for Peace & Conflict, Texas Tech University - 2022

IPAC strives to attract faculty and graduate student scholars from a wide variety of university disciplines whose work touches on the themes of peace and conflict and the numerous ways in which societies respond to war, diplomacy, and the pursuit of peace.

ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research

Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan - June-August 2020

Comprehensive, integrated program of studies in research design, statistics, data analysis, and social methodology. Workshops taken: Machine Learning: Applications in Social Science Research; Network Analysis I: Introduction; Data Science and Text Analysis; and Structural Equation Models with Latent Variables.

Type, Teaching, & Communication Series

Communication Training Center (CTC), Texas Tech University - October-November 2019

Discover your styles of learning and decision making with the theory behind the Myers-Briggs system. Learn how to harness the strengths of each style to maximize student engagement, teacher-student interaction, and classroom communication.

Signature Workshops

Communication Training Center (CTC), Texas Tech University - January-March 2019

The Signature Workshops is a series of eight workshops designed to improve instructor awareness in order to facilitate and positively impact undergraduate student learning.

Groundwork Program

Teaching, Learning and Professional Development Center, Texas Tech University - January 2019

The Groundwork Program (Groundwork) is an opportunity for graduate students at Texas Tech University to learn more about teaching in the college classroom. Groundwork is a face-to-face, 2 and a half day program of workshops, discussions, and micro-teaching opportunities.

Research Strategies Training Program

University Libraries, Texas Tech University - September 2018 - November 2018

A series of workshops hosted by the Graduate School to introduce students to a variety of skills to successfully conduct research.

Selected Courses

Grants and Awards

Graduate Student of the Year Award

Department of Political Science, Texas Tech University - 2022

Awarded to graduate students based on academic and extra-curricular achievements throughout the academic year.

IPAC Academic Fellowship

Institute for Peace & Conflict, Texas Tech University - 2022

IPAC strives to attract faculty and graduate student scholars from a wide variety of university disciplines whose work touches on the themes of peace and conflict and the numerous ways in which societies respond to war, diplomacy, and the pursuit of peace.

Dr. William A. Jackson Scholarship

Department of Political Science, Texas Tech University - 2020 - 2021

Established by William A. Jackson Jr. And Mrs. N.G.Kerr in honor of Dr. William A. Jackson, an early member of the Department of Political Science and first head of what later became the Graduate School. Administered by the Department Scholarship Committee.

R. Guy Carter Scholarship

Department of Political Science, Texas Tech University - 2019 - 2021

Established in honor of R. Guy Carter, an attorney, political science alumnus, and member of Texas Tech's first graduating class in 1928. Administered by the Department Scholarship Committee and the Alumni Association.

Gordon Treadaway Scholarship

Department of Political Science, Texas Tech University - 2021

Awarded annually to one or more graduate or undergraduate students who have demonstrated a strong interest in a public service career. Established in honor of Gordon Treadaway, a political science alumnus and member of Texas Tech's first student class.

Graduate Emerging Scholar Award

Department of Political Science, Texas Tech University - 2020 - 2021

The Graduate Emerging Scholar Award is awarded annually to the best graduate student research paper written for coursework or for the second year paper requirement, during the previous two long semesters. The award includes a travel grant, aimed at assisting the awardee in presenting this research at a research conference.

Global Guides Scholarship

Office of International Affairs, Texas Tech University - 2019 - 2021

The International Global Guides program connects current Texas Tech University Students with prospective students to promote, share, and support their efforts to attend the university. Global Guides will also provide assistance with student life and retention activities through the Office of International Student Life.

John A. Garcia Scholarship

Society for Political Methodology - 2020

Awarded by the Society for Political Methodology to encourage women and underrepresented graduate students in political science to attend the ICPSR Summer Program. The award is named in honor of John A. Garcia, major figure in quantitative social science research and strong supporter of the ICPSR Summer Program.

Student International Research Award (First runner-up)

Office of International Affairs, Texas Tech University - 2019

The Student International Research Award recognizes international scholarship by a graduate student and is based on the 18th Annual Graduate Student Research Poster Competition.

References are available upon request