Garth Hansen

Garth Hansen, who graduated with a BA in Economics and a BS in Mathematics in 2011, works as a consulting research analyst in the Healthcare Informatics Department at Cambia Health Solutions in Portland, Oregon.  Garth enrolled at Chico State after completing his AA degree at Butte College in 2008.

After graduation from Chico State in 2011, Garth accepted a job as research assistant for Chico State Center  for Healthy Communities, an organization that promotes nutrition education. 

In 2013 Garth entered the graduate program at Oregon State University where he worked at their Survey Research Center entering data and writing reports on environmental and public health.  Garth earned his MS in Statistics in 2015 and accepted a position as consulting research analyst associate with Cambia Health Solutions where he is currently employed.  In 2018 Cambia promoted Garth to consulting research analyst.

Garth works on a team that serves as consultants for Cambia and their company portfolio.  They conduct program evaluations, and provide statistical, methodological, and content-specific consulting on a variety of projects.  His team is involved in many facets of the company ranging from actuarial to provider care. 

In a recent email Garth said, “I have always wanted to understand how the world works.  This has led to a diverse set of interests from history and sociology, to physics and geography.   I studied mathematics and economics because I felt those encompassed many of my interests, albeit in an indirect fashion.  Similarly, this is why I decided to study for a master’s degree in statistics.  Every  field uses statistics to some capacity and I want to learn new subjects and fields during my entire career.” 

“At the Center for Nutrition and Activity Promotion, I started as an intern and was eventually hired as a research assistant.  This job was a great experience because it helped give me a sense of direction with my studies and career path which was to continue on with a master’s degree in statistics to get a job in either research and evaluation or analytics.” 

When asked how he uses economics in his career, Garth stated that “Despite economics being a hodgepodge of theories explaining how one situation happened, economics somehow manages to weave its way into anything and everything making it a useful field of study. As a person with a mathematics and statistics background, my studies in economics provided a focus for applying those skills to real world problems by developing my analytical, quantitative, writing, and research skills. While I may not be employed in the economics field, I consistently apply these skills in both my professional and personal life.”  (Last Updated 8/9/18)