Madalyn Romberger

Madalyn Romberger

Economics PhD Candidate

University of Delaware

Biography

Hello! I am currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Delaware and an Adjunct Lecturer at Goucher College. My research is at the intersection of health, labor, and environmental economics with interests in how students’ environments shape their human capital accumulation. I am on the 2025-26 academic job market.

Interests

  • Labor Economics
  • Health Economics
  • Environmental Economics

Education

  • PhD in Economics, 2026 (Expected)

    University of Delaware

  • MS in Economics, 2023

    University of Delaware

  • BA in Economics, 2017

    Goucher College

Working Papers

Eliminating In-School Lead Exposure: Evidence from Baltimore's Bottled Water Intervention

This paper examines Baltimore City Public Schools’ 2007 switch from tap to bottled drinking water, finding that eliminating in-school lead exposure raised student test proficiency by 4–6 percentage points, especially in lower-achieving and Title I schools.
PDF

Evaluating the Impact of Arsenic-Contaminated Drinking Water on Educational Outcomes

This study links school-level water treatment data with local arsenic concentrations to examine how contaminated water affects Maryland students. Reducing in-school arsenic exposure improves attendance but has limited effects on test scores, with impacts varying by grade span.
PDF

Work in Progress

The Effect of Cellphone Policies on In-School Violence: Evidence from NYC Schools

Leveraging the staggered adoption of Yondr locking cellphone pouches, we examine the impact of cellphone use policies on in-school bullying, cyberbullying, and other measures of violence. Results forthcoming.

Teaching

Teaching Philosophy Teaching Effectiveness

Instructor of Record

Econ 206: Statistics for Economics & Business

In-person: Spring 2025, Spring 2026 (Goucher)

Econ 101: Essentials of Economics

In-person: Fall 2024, Spring 2026 (Goucher)

Econ 101: Introduction to Microeconomics

In-person: Winter 2024 (Delaware)

Teaching Assistant

ECON 101: Introduction to Microeconomics (Head TA)

ECON 300: Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

ECON 367: Economics of Pop Culture

ECON 435: Public Finance and Public Policy

ECON 626: Generative AI for Data Visualization

ECON 811: Graduate Microeconomics I

ECON 823: Graduate Econometrics II

Contact