Bapu Vaitla is a Data2x Fellow managing the big data and gender strategy. His core interest is the relationship between human cooperation and child well-being: why people decide to work together (or not) for mutual benefit, and the effects of these decisions on the structure of states, markets, and ultimately the lives of children. He was born in India and grew up in California. He holds a BA in Nature and Culture and an MS in International Agricultural Development from UC-Davis, as well as a PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. He is currently a research associate at Harvard University and a visiting lecturer at UC-Davis. He is inspired by the potential, and unsettled by the politics, of big data.