Alumni spotlight on Mark Wheldon: Crafting technical solutions to real-world problems
Dr. Mark Wheldon is a Population Affairs Officer at the United Nations (UN).
Wheldon completed his PhD at the University of Washington (UW) in 2013 with the CSSS track in Statistics. Throughout his different roles and projects, he’s always been a keen collaborator with non-statisticians in social and health science research.
Wheldon spoke with CSSS about his passion for using statistics to extract insights that have real-world impact. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Question: What has been your career path to your current position?
Answer: I started out studying statistics and psychology as an undergrad in Christchurch, then had a short stint working at Statistics New Zealand before doing a master's in statistics in Auckland. So I guess I’ve always been keen on statistics, but it was when I started my master’s that I really decided to pursue a career as a statistician.
After the master's, I worked at a university research center while considering whether to start a PhD program and pursue academia. It’s a major decision. There was a history of people from my statistics department in Auckland going to the U.S. for PhDs, and I knew some students and professors who had made the move and had good experiences. Exploring my options, I realized I also wanted to go to the U.S. for my PhD, and UW was the perfect fit.
When I arrived at UW, I had the opportunity to work with Adrian Raftery’s research group, focused on a UN Population project. It was a terrific experience. After my PhD, I carried on the academic track with a professor job in Auckland, and thought everything was set. The professor position was great — working in a new area for me, focused on clinical trials and epidemiology — and it was nice to move back to New Zealand.
But, then I had an unexpected career opportunity! The UN Population Division won a research grant from the Gates Foundation. My UW network and prior doctoral research made me a strong candidate for a new position they created for the grant. I interviewed for a short-term, temporary role and they eventually reached out to see if I would be interested in the position. I said yes, and that’s how I started working at the UN.
What was originally going to be a temporary position turned into quite a long-term role. It's been eight years now! Ultimately, I’ve made the choice to stay here at the UN in New York.
Q: Your work in statistics has explored many different areas. What’s a project you would highlight?
A: My first project at the UN was called "Making Family Planning Count," which was a very interesting initiative to improve the quantity, quality, transparency and accessibility of family planning indicators and the population data that underlie models of the determinants and impacts of use of family planning.
It was exciting to become part of that team as a statistician, and to work on a high-profile, global initiative that generated a lot of attention and support in the NGO/intergovernmental community. I appreciated the opportunity to learn about how these initiatives work in the global policy community, while doing technical statistics work. And, the project was meaningful: the results that come out of the model we built are now used in the regular monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.7. to "ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning."
Q: What did you take away from your time with CSSS?
A: I was always most interested in figuring out technical solutions to policy-oriented, real-world, substantive problems. But, I was a statistics student, so most of my coursework and dissertation was focused on very technical statistics, studying a lot of mathematics and computing.
Looking back, what made CSSS so special was its interdisciplinary community — the seminars and sharing offices with students who came from other departments and had had totally different research areas. CSSS helped connect me with people who were also doing technical statistics work, but who were studying specific policy problems and using data analysis tools for real-world insights.
For example, a Research Methods in Demography course by Prof. Sam Clark (now at Ohio State) was an essential introduction to quantitative demographic methods, and I learned a lot from Sam about demography that continues to be very relevant to my day-to-day work. I still refer to the textbook for that course on a regular basis!
For me, being a part of the CSSS community was terrific preparation for what I’m doing now at the UN. I’m an applied statistician at heart. I’ve just never been as interested in working on purely mathematical projects (even though there’s nothing wrong with math for the sake of math!). CSSS helped me interact and collaborate with people who have different focus areas and skillsets, working together on a wide variety of policy problems.
Q: What’s one important piece of advice for trainees or graduate students today?
A: Generally, “done is better than perfect” — that was written on the whiteboard in the offices when I was a PhD student!
But beyond that: Seek exposure to a wider variety of research approaches and research questions. Try a few different areas and types of work, if you have the opportunity and especially if you’re unsure what to do.
UW was great for providing a stimulating academic environment and lots of exposure to different areas. CSSS and other cross-departmental institutes like the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology offered many opportunities to move between different topics or different disciplines while maintaining your home department.
Q: What was one of your favorite spots around the UW campus or the university district in Seattle?
A: I used to love the Rainier Vista from Red Square, looking down past the fountain, especially in the summer. I also enjoyed Seward Park — it felt like just the right distance from campus (not too far, but not too close!), with a great view across the lake to the mountain.
Q: What have you been reading, watching, or listening to lately that you’d recommend?
A: I’m a junkie for podcasts – lots of current affairs shows, but also deeper dives into academic topics, outside my area. The Guardian Politics has Politics Weekly America, about American politics from a U.K. perspective (although I say I'm from New Zealand, I was born in England and lived there until my family moved to New Zealand when I was a teen).
For deep dives, I’d suggest Capitalisn't (on the ways capitalism is and isn’t working), and In Our Time and The Forum by the BBC.
Learn more about Wheldon’s work on his LinkedIn.
While at UW, Mark enjoyed hiking and skiing around Seattle.
