Biswa Das, is an Associate Professor and Extension Economist in the Department of Community and Regional Planning (CRP) at Iowa State University, U.S. His primary responsibility is to develop educational resources, conduct workshops, trainings as well as assist local governments in Iowa on a host of community and economic development issues. His research and extension work are situated at the cross section of economics, and public administration. Focus areas of his research and extension work include public finance, economic development, housing, and natural resource and the environment. He is involved in projects that address different dimensions of housing challenges, improving quality of life in small rural communities, retaining workforce in rural areas, finding pragmatic solutions to rural transportation challenges, aging in place, and using quantitative and qualitative data to improve understanding of places, issues, and people. He teaches in the CRP department and has been serving as the Director of the Graduate CRP program since 2020.