Resiliency Lecture
Title: "Oil and Energy Markets in the current global landscape, from Venezuela to Iran, and their impact on the SETX regionâ€
Guest Speaker- Jesse Thompson Federal Reserve of Dallas
Hosted By
Date
Thursday, April 16th, 2026
Who
All students, faculty, and administration are invited.
Event Location
Science Auditorium
Â鶹ӳ»Ó°Òô
1030 E Lavaca St,
Beaumont, TX 77705
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Science Auditorium
Parking
Free Parking in Lot E-1
Time
2:00PM to 3:30PM
Category
Event
Attire
Business Casual
Contact
About Jesse Thompson is a senior business economist at the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Thompson, who joined the Bank in 2010, performs research and analysis on issues affecting the Houston and Gulf Coast economy, particularly the issues surrounding area hydrocarbon industries. Thompson collects information for the Dallas Fed's Beige Book summary of current economic conditions. Thompson is the author of the monthly Energy Indicators and Houston Economic Indicators, and he contributes to the publication of Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Southwest Economy.
About Our EventThe Center for Resiliency Lecture Series Brings To Â鶹ӳ»Ó°Òô The Best Expert Researchers From Industry And Academia To Deliver Lectures On The Most Pressing Topics Of Our Time.
The Inaugural Resiliency Lecture at Â鶹ӳ»Ó°Òô
"Collecting High-Quality Human Insights in an AI-Powered World"
Guest Speaker
Steven Snell, PhD
Princeton University
President of Market Research Council, and EVP/Head of Research at Rep Data
Date
Thursday, March 5th, 2026
Who
90+ graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, and administration across various colleges attended the lecture
About Steven Snell, PhD (Princeton University) is Head of Research at Rep Data, focused on research strategy, data quality, and combatting online survey fraud. He previously led the Survey Research Center of Excellence at Goldman Sachs and consultancies at Qualtrics and Duke University, advising hundreds of B2B and B2C, academic, nonprofit, and government clients. Steve is president of the Market Research Council, a longtime member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, and represents Rep Data on the advisory board of the University of Georgia Master’s in Marketing Research (MMR) program.
Highlight
Want to know what real human think? Don't ask a machine. While the current AI craze heavily promotes synthetic audiences, these tools falter when tracking how real human preferences evolve in response to real-world events. Survey research remains a cornerstone of many industries—giving voice to customers, citizens, and stakeholders. However, survey science is a deceptively complex discipline, and surveys are threatened by respondent inattention, poor questionnaire design, and clumsy interviews. The researcher's ultimate goal is to mitigate these threats and reduce respondent burden by mastering the golden rule of collecting high-quality feedback: "Write the survey you would want to take." When surveys are easy to answer, the resulting data are more valid, and the researcher can be more confident in their accuracy. Furthermore, high-quality data leads to better products, smarter policies, and better services. Valid data also serves as more reliable information to feed developing AI solutions.