Nathaniel Burke is an assistant professor in the economics department at West Virginia University's John C. Chambers College of Business and Economics. Nathaniel's primary research fields are behavioral economics and education with a special interest in using experiments and the economics of identity and is the founding director of the Behavioral Economics and Situational Testing (BEAST) Lab at WVU. He looks at the ways policies and social behaviors have identity-differing impacts on minorities in the education process and the ways that identity impacts rational behavior and decision-making in both lab and field experimental settings. Nathaniel is also a first-generation college graduate. Nathaniel did his Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas and received his M.S. in Resource and Applied Economics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Nathaniel did his B.A. in Economics at Manhattan College in NYC where he was also a D1 Track and Field athlete. Prior to entering his Master's degree program, Nathaniel spent 5 years in the Army on active duty and received an honorable discharge in 2016. While in the military, Nathaniel received an A.A.S in Intelligence Operations from Cochise College and a Linguistic Certification in Korean linguistics from the Defense Language Institute - Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, CA.

Nathaniel's cultural background is Afro-Puerto Rican. His family is primarily focused in the northeast in the NY/PA area with much of his family still living in Puerto Rico. Nathaniel is also an alumni member of the Gamma Lambda Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., a historically Black cultural fraternity, as well as serving as the chapter advisor of Rho Theta, the collegiate chapter of Phi Beta Sigma at West Virginia University.

When Nathaniel is not working on research or teaching, he enjoys game nights with his family, flying general aviation aircraft around West Virginia, walking his dog around Morgantown, hiking, biking, and running. He also likes coding new experimental games in Python, gaming with his brother, and engaging with low-income/marginalized students as a tutor and mentor.