Lydia Ashton

Lydia Ashton is an Assistant Professor of Consumer Science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s School of Human Ecology. She serves as Assistant Director of the Behavioral Research Insights Through Experiments (BRITE) Lab and is affiliated with the Institute for Research on Poverty. Her work combines lab/field experiments and big data to study how inattention, fatigue, and hunger influence economic decisions.

Dr. Ashton holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in Economics from the Universidad de Monterrey. Her research bridges behavioral economics with public policy, particularly in food safety and Social Security policy. She has published on topics ranging from SSDI applicant behavior to neural development modeling.

Her affiliations include the BRITE Lab and the Institute for Research on Poverty, where she collaborates on applied behavioral research. While no specific awards are listed, her work reflects sustained engagement with policy-relevant research. Her advising and grants focus on behavioral interventions and experimental design, with projects documented in her CV. She is based in Nancy Nicholas Hall and actively contributes to the School of Human Ecology’s academic and outreach initiatives.