Gareth Nellis

Gareth Nellis is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego, specializing in comparative politics, political economy, and South Asia. His research examines how elections shape inclusion or exclusion in developing democracies, focusing on ethno-religious nationalism and migrant marginalization. He holds a PhD from Yale University and was a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley’s Evidence in Governance and Politics program. Nellis also serves as Chair of Revelle College’s Faculty and directs UCSD’s PhD program placement. His awards include an honorable mention for the 2022 Lawrence Longley Award and the 2019 APSA Best Book in Experimental Research Award for co-editing Information, Accountability, and Cumulative Learning.

Research highlights include experiments on youth camps reducing social divisions in India, the impact of education on reducing caste-religious conflict, and field studies on politician responsiveness to migrants. He has published in top journals like the American Political Science Review and the Quarterly Journal of Political Science. Current projects explore electoral consequences of religious events and bureaucratic barriers to migrant political inclusion. Nellis is affiliated with EGAP, CEGA, and the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania.