Liliane Nienstedt is a postdoctoral researcher at the Detroit Partnership for Education Equity & Research at Wayne State University. Her work explores how education and social policies shape children’s school experiences, health, and well-being, particularly among students from low-income families. Using quantitative and mixed-methods approaches, she studies the role of schools as social safety net institutions, with work examining SNAP, school nutrition, and school-based health care. Her current project links Department of Health and Human Services administrative records with education data to develop and evaluate alternative measures of student economic disadvantage and assess their implications for school funding adequacy and allocation. Through this and related work, she aims to identify policies that reduce the effects of poverty on children’s educational experiences and advance educational equity.

Before pursuing her PhD, Liliane taught middle school science in Kentucky. She earned a PhD in Education Policy from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Education from the University of Louisville.