Crystal Brown Simard earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Oregon, specializing in Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Public Administration. She also holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Pennsylvania State University and a certificate in Data Analytics from Harvard University.

She is an internationally focused scholar who examines the inclusivity of marginalized groups, including immigrants, people of color, and individuals of African descent/Black people, women, and other marginalized groups. As a computational social scientist, she employs mixed methods, combining statistical approaches with qualitative techniques to uncover insights beyond numerical data. Through interviews, direct observation, and community engagement, her work seeks to understand the real-world impact of policies and the lived experiences of those they impact.