After graduating from Western in June 2014, Joshua Bird moved to Scotland to pursue a Master of Public Policy (MPP) at the University of Edinburgh, where he lives to this day. Since completing graduate school he has worked in a variety of policy and analytical roles across the Scottish public, academic, private, and third sectors. He currently works for the Scottish Government, employed as a statistician in the Department of COVID Public Health. (In the photo he can be seen with Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, during pre-pandemic times.) Joshua is thrilled to be working the civil service, especially in an area as important and timely as this. Although the position is perhaps an unusual destination for an English Literature graduate, he can say with confidence that he uses the skills gained during his studies at Western daily. He sends shout outs to Professors Lysa Rivera and Nicole Brown, both of whom were indispensable to his development as an undergraduate.
