Our Team
Meet the people that make RDN an incredible place to work.

RDN’s staff has applied expertise in economic research, data science, survey and interview methods, and financial analysis.

Robert Niehaus, Ph.D.
Managing Director
Dr. Niehaus is widely recognized for his expertise in the economics of military housing, water resources, and the environment. He has assisted the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the different military services in developing and implementing the criteria, methods, and procedures used to project housing requirements and set housing allowances for military installations. He has conducted water resource and rate-setting analyses throughout California. His work in the economics of environmental quality encompasses growth impact assessment and planning; non-market valuation of view enhancement and preservation; energy and climate change; and the recreational and tourism sectors. He has forecast transportation demand for high-speed train systems, mountain-area cable projects, and auto commuter routes.
He has served as principal-in-charge for facilities acquisition, weapon system deployment, privatization, base realignment and closure, water resources, energy, transportation, and other projects for all of the uniformed services; the U.S. Departments of Energy, Transportation, Commerce, and Homeland Security; the State of California; and numerous local governments and private organizations. He has successfully directed completion of hundreds of contract research efforts throughout the United States, Europe, the Pacific, and East Asia. His prior experience includes work in private consulting, the non-profit sector, and as an economist with the Federal government in Washington, D.C. His Ph.D. (U. of Maryland, 1979) is in economics and his B.A. (Oberlin College, 1972) is in government.

Ian Monsma, C.B.E.
Program Manager
Ian manages RDN’s data collection and analysis services for the U.S. Department of Defense’s Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) program. Since joining the firm in 2009, his work has primarily focused on advising the armed forces on foreign and domestic housing issues through a combination of economic modeling, survey design/research, and geospatial analysis.
Ian also supports RDN’s research, business development, and corporate strategy initiatives. His B.A. (Pomona College, 2009) is in Economics. Ian is a Certified Business Economist® (CBE), the certification in business economics and data analytics developed by the National Association for Business Economics.

Ichiko Kido, M.B.A.
Program Manager, Senior Financial Analyst - Water Rate Studies
Ichiko has extensive experience in financial analysis for water agencies, Cost of Service (COS) analysis, rate design, database management, statistical analysis, and applied economic research. She manages water/sewer rate studies and builds customized COS models to help agencies comply with laws and regulations to meet their short- and long-term financial goals. Previously, she managed more than 80 comparative water rate studies, compiling and analyzing primary- and secondary-source data on water rates and financial information for more than 200 California water agencies.
As the lead for the Army Housing Training program, Ichiko created course materials for the Army Housing Academy and facilitated in person training, eLearning, and online courses. She has also conducted housing market analyses for military bases throughout the United States and Japan. She is bilingual, fluent in English and Japanese. Her M.B.A. is from the Martin V. Smith School of Business & Economics (CSU Channel Islands) and her B.A. (Fukuoka University, Japan) is in law and education.

Cindy Gau, M.S.
Program Manager, Senior Market Analyst
Cindy is the Program Manager for the RDN Housing Market Analysis Products and Deliverables team. She has expertise in local-area housing market forecasts and housing requirements analyses. She has overseen the creation, expansion, and comparison of rental databases for housing market areas worldwide.
Cindy is also experienced in water rate studies, having conducted comparative water rate analyses, compiled and analyzed primary- and secondary-source data on water rates, and has analyzed financial information for water purveyors throughout California. She is trilingual; fluent in English, Mandarin, and Taiwanese. Her M.S. (U. of Minnesota, 1989) is in computer science and her B.S. (National Taiwan University, 1984) is in horticulture.

Miki Hashimoto, B.A.
Program Manager, Senior Market Analyst
Miki is the Program Manager for the RDN Housing Market Analysis (HMAs) Client Services team. She is responsible for the coordination of dozens of on-site HMAs annually, managing a team of economists, analysts, and market researchers. Miki has served as project manager for more than 50 HMAs worldwide and has performed over 100 on-site HMAs for Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard installations in the United States, Puerto Rico, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, and Korea. She is an experienced on-site investigator, conducting interviews with real estate professionals, local government officials, and installation personnel. She also has expertise in the analysis and forecasting of housing market characteristics.
Miki provides support for business development, proposal preparation, contract administration, and GIS analysis. She is bilingual, fluent in English and Japanese, having lived and studied in Japan for more than three years. Her M.A. (Concordia University, expected 2021) is in organizational leadership and her B.A. (Claremont McKenna College, 2007) is in international relations, Asian studies, and Asian American studies.

Jack Lyon, B.A.
Business Development Manager
Jack manages RDN’s business development, strategy, marketing, proposals, and partnership efforts. He oversees account planning and works to foster relationships with customers, partners, and industry leaders. He also leads RDN’s contract formation, negotiation, and risk review processes.
Prior to managing business development initiatives, Jack served as an Analyst for RDN’s Housing Analyses program with the Armed Services and as a Team Lead for the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) data collection program. His B.A. (James Madison College at Michigan State University, 2013) is in Political Theory, Phi Beta Kappa.

Bronwyn Bradbury, M.E.S.M.
Project Manager, Economist
Bronwyn has over 16 years professional experience in economic analysis, land use planning, and project management. Her specializations include housing market data, price indexes, water resources, socioeconomic analysis, demographic research, regional growth effects, and economic impact analysis. She works with a diverse range of clients to meet project goals and objectives, including local, State, and Federal government agencies, as well as private companies and non-profit organizations.
Before joining RDN, Bronwyn worked as a Senior Environmental Planner and Economic Analyst at two private consulting companies and as a Senior Field Economist for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics/Mathematics (UCSB, 2000) and a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management (Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, 2011).

Jessica Solis, B.A.
Contract Administrator & Human Resources
Jessica is responsible for contract administration, monthly billing, and invoicing. She also manages RDN’s Human Resources department and facilitates recruiting, onboarding, and development of current personnel.
Jessica also supports the HMA and BAH program and has collected and analyzed rental housing market data and military personnel survey data for Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy installations around the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Spain. She is bilingual, fluent in English and Spanish. Jessica received her B.A. from California State University, Channel Islands.

Bjorn Kallerud, M.Sc.
Economist
Bjorn is a quantitative economist specializing in application of statistical programming to water rate and housing market analysis. He is an integral part of RDN’s water, housing, and regional econometric modeling teams. He has conducted demand and financial analyses in support of rate-setting for water agencies throughout California. He has prepared housing market assessments for the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps across the U.S. and in Europe and analyzed alternative methodologies for DOD’s Basic Allowance for Housing program.
Bjorn’s M.Sc. in Economics is from the Stockholm School of Economics (emphasis in applied economic analysis), and his B.A. in Economics is from U.C. Santa Barbara (with distinction). His master’s thesis addressed the effects of drought on irrigation decisions regarding use of groundwater and surface water in the agricultural sector.

Elizabeth Schmitt, B.A.
Client Support Manager
Elizabeth (Betsy) leads external engagement efforts for the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) program, including training and technical support for military housing staff. Internally, Betsy supports recruiting, training, and personnel management for the BAH team.
Betsy also coordinates RDN’s recruitment and deployment of specialists supporting the FEMA Public Assistance Program. Betsy has contributed to a variety of company projects, including housing market analyses for military installations worldwide. She received her B.A. in Political Science from State University of New York at Buffalo.

Anthony Elowsky, M.A.
Market Analyst
Anthony performs Cost of Service analysis, water agency financial analysis, rate design, and applied econometric analysis. He has conducted over 20 comparative water rate analyses, including compiling and analyzing primary- and secondary-source data on water rates and financial information for more than 100 water purveyors. As part of RDN’s housing market analysis program, he conducted multi-level analyses for military installations. For the BAH program, he collected rental data for over 150 military housing areas across the country.
In the course of his M.A., Anthony has published and presented in academic forums and successfully obtained research grants. Anthony received his B.A. in Anthropology (California State University, Los Angeles, 2014) and his M.A. in Anthropology (California State University, Fullerton, 2019).

Zachary Kitt, M.A.
Data Scientist
Zach is the project manager for a service-wide U.S. Marine Corps survey, with additional experience working on the HMA and regional modeling teams. He has traveled and conducted research for the Army and Navy. As a member of RDN’s internal data science team, he is also a developer who contributes to and manages internal and external software and infrastructure.
Before joining RDN, Zach performed geopolitical forecasting for S&P Global and an In-Q-Tel funded start-up. He supported analysts’ workflows and insights by applying machine learning techniques to large datasets using his experience in data science and software engineering. He has also assisted researchers at Yale’s Digital Humanities Lab and the Institute of International Relations in Prague. His academic work has supported government decision makers at the national level. He has a B.A. in global studies (UCSB, 2012) and an M.A. in global affairs (Yale, 2018).

Charlie Taylor, B.A.
Market Analyst
Charlie has contributed to a wide range of projects during his time at RDN. He collected data for water rate analyses, conducted content analysis for housing surveys, reviewed academic literature for regional economic research, and performed housing market analyses for Army, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard installations. He is a quick learner and is currently expanding his experience in the R programming language. Charlie received his B.A. from Yale University in sociology with distinction in the major.

Andrew Clark, M.P.P.
Marketing Manager
Andrew manages RDN’s marketing and external engagement strategy. As a member of the business development team, he is also responsible for outreach to potential clients and teaming partners and for assessing opportunities that further RDN’s strategic initiatives. Andrew also supports client services for RDN’s ongoing projects and programs, including training military personnel and civilians on the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) program.
Before joining RDN, Andrew worked as a member of the external affairs team in the Washington, D.C. office of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He holds an M.A. in Public Policy and B.A in Political Science, both from Pepperdine University (2017, 2015).

Debbie Castanha, B.S.
Associate Analyst
Debbie has extensive experience conducting internet research of rental housing markets and is an experienced interviewer of realtors and property managers. She has collected rental housing data for numerous markets throughout the United States in support of Housing Market Analyses for the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard. She has also conducted interviews with water purveyors for water rate studies and has performed research on utility consumption.
Debbie also supports RDN’s business development efforts by providing outreach and programmatic assistance. Debbie received her B.S. in Business (California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 1985).

Giovanna Anghera-Munoz, B.A.
Associate Analyst
Giovanna has prepared installation-specific market area maps and survey maps for Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard installations, and conducted interviews for housing market analyses and water rate comparison studies. She has collected and analyzed rental housing data for numerous housing markets worldwide. For water agencies, she has conducted comparative water rate analyses, compiled and analyzed primary- and secondary-source data on water rates, and analyzed financial information for purveyors in California.
Giovanna is fluent in English, Italian, Spanish, and French. Giovanna received her B.A. in Italian and Spanish/Latin-American Literature (UC Santa Barbara, 1992).

Trung Pham, B.S.
Research Coordinator
Trung is part of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) team at RDN. He provides customer service and ensures quality assurance for data collection processes. Additionally, he facilitates the day-to-day operation of BAH from training market researchers to performing on-site data collection for military housing areas throughout the United States.
Before RDN, Trung conducted scientific research and drew up NIH grant proposals at the University of California, Davis where he received his B.S. in Cellular Physiology.

Ellen Upton, B.A.
Market Researcher
Ellen has compiled and analyzed economic and housing market data for the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) program. She also supports RDN’s work for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), recruiting and deploying personnel in response to natural disasters.
Prior to joining RDN, Ellen worked for a non-profit researching the criminal justice system in New Orleans, LA. She received her B.A. in Homeland Security Studies, Computer Science, and French (Tulane University, 2018).

Liping Chung, B.S.
Associate Analyst
Liping has been actively involved in a variety of different projects since joining RDN. She has expertise in graphic design and has used her skills to design covers and create diagrams and graphics for reports and proposals. She has also supported the housing market analysis program at RDN, collecting and analyzing rental housing data for Army, Marine Corps, and Navy housing market analyses in locations throughout the United States and in Japan. She also provides administrative support, including data entry and document organization.
Liping is bilingual; fluent in both English and Mandarin. Liping has a background in business, receiving her B.S. in Banking and Finance (Tamkang University, Taiwan, 2004).