Fernando B. Mello
Post Doctoral Researcher at IC3JM.I received my P.h.D in Political Science and a M.S in statistics from UCLA
I am a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the POLARCHATS project, at the Institute Carlos III Juan March. My research interests are comparative politics, polarization, social media, elections, public policy and lobbying.
My research addresses the challenges of the digital democracy era. It focuses on polarization — particularly among positive and negative partisans in Brazil —, the spread of misinformation in the Global South, and the effects of social media and messaging tools (e.g., WhatsApp) on the behavior of politicians and citizens.
I employ a range of methodologies, including the analysis of large, original datasets with millions of observations and the design of novel experiments in collaboration with political parties, lobbying organizations, and non-governmental entities to study political elites and voters at both the national and subnational levels. By integrating causal inference techniques with in-depth interviews of key political actors, I address relevant research questions in a comprehensive manner.
I have experience teaching Latin American politics, introduction to comparative politics, and research methods. I am a recipient of the UCLA Deans' Schoolarship, the Tinker's Foudation grant and the Dissertation Year Fellowship.
I have published books in Portuguese and English. My research has been published at Latin American Politics and Society and Democracy and Society.
In the past, I have worked as an political and investigative reporter in Brazil.