Meet the Staff

Julia Bergeron-Smith, MPPM, MSW, is a Policy Associate at the Catherine Cutler Institute’s Justice Policy Program and serves as the Director of the Maine Statistical Analysis Center (SAC), which is housed at the University of Southern Maine. Julia’s research and policy focus areas include justice policy, child welfare, social policy, and community well-being. She considers herself a generalist who leverages her big-picture thinking, passion for project management, and deep commitment to collaboration to support partners in making strategic and informed decisions. She manages local, state, and nation-wide research, technical assistance, and stakeholder engagement efforts while also providing data analysis and interpretation. Julia has been with the Catherine Cutler Institute since 2013 and, prior to joining Cutler, worked for non-profits that serve historically underserved youth and young adults.

Tara Wheeler, MPPM, is a Research Associate at Catherine Cutler Institute’s Justice Policy Program and serves as the Maine SAC’s Lead Data Analyst. Tara has extensive experience in the application of statistical methods and techniques and uses her thorough understanding to analyze and interpret large datasets and develop findings. Her research focus areas include criminal justice, health policy, and economics. Her most recent data analysis work has centered on sex offender recidivism, jail pre-trial populations, and prosecutorial practices and outcomes. Tara is proficient in graphic design and uses this knowledge to create accessible and informative data visualizations for the Maine SAC reports and interactive data dashboards.

Madison Burke is a Research Analyst at the Catherine Cutler Institute’s Justice Policy Program and is passionate about bringing positive, tangible change to youth and families across Maine through advocacy, early intervention, and education. Madison graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Forensic Psychology, where she had the opportunity to conduct research in the areas of affordable housing, equitable access to healthcare and childcare, and the impact of U.S. prison environments on the emotional and physical well-being of formerly incarcerated individuals. Madison’s current research and policy focus areas include justice policy, youth development, behavioral health, and community well-being.

Simran Khaira, MCA, is a Data Infrastructure Manager at the Cutler Institute, with over two decades of experience in computer and database design and management, web-based application, computer science and programming, and data analysis and quality assurance. Simran is proficient in a wide range of applications, including SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL Server Management Studio, Transact-SQL (T-SQL), Data Access Object (DAO), JavaScript, Microsoft Access, and IMB SPSS Statistics. She primarily works for the VAWA Measuring Effectiveness Initiative, a project funded by the Office on Violence against Women, where she has led database development and data management for almost fifteen years.

Robyn Dumont, MPPM, is a Research Associate at Cutler Institute’s Justice Policy Program and serves as the Managing Director of the Survey Research Center. Her primary interest is the juvenile justice population and she provides guidance and analytical oversight on a handful of projects related to justice policy. She has authored and co-authored a number of recidivism reports, worked on projects related to youth detention rates as part of the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative (JDAI), and co-authored the 2015 Disproportionate Contact Report. She also contributed to the 2014 Maine Crime & Justice Data Book and co‑authored the 2015 and 2022 Maine Crime Victimization Reports.

George Shaler, MPH, is the former Maine SAC Director (2013-2023) and now serves as a Senior Research Consultant to the Maine SAC and other justice policy projects of the Catherine Cutler Institute at the University of Southern Maine. His primary research and evaluation interests are justice and public health issues and how these topics are intertwined. He provides program evaluation and consultation services to state and local government agencies as well as community-based organizations and offers technical assistance in evaluation capacity building to Maine non-profits. George has examined county jail trends, disproportionate minority contact, prison/jail health care issues, and juvenile and adult recidivism analysis, and conducted a community policing program evaluation. He has co-authored and/or edited numerous SAC reports during his 20+ year tenure, several of which have received Douglas Yearwood National Publication Awards.