PhD Students

Whitney's research interests focus on the intersection of ecology and human health, investigating how human use and interaction with the environment affect human infection with emerging and re-emerging vector-borne and zoonotic diseases.

Laura studies how land-use changes facilitate interactions between people and wildlife affecting infectious disease emergence. She currently focuses on the spatial dispersion and transmission of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases along and between human and non-human primate networks.

Cassandra studies marine protection in the Antarctic, trying to better understand ocean governance of our common pool resources on an international scale.

Jeremy is studying the environmental, geopolitical, and economic aspects of energy development and policy, with a particular focus on China and India.

Emily studies United States-based electricity fuel cycles, focusing on integrating knowledge about various environmental and social impacts of fuel extraction, use, and disposal to aid decisionmakers at a local level using life cycle assessment, textual analysis, and multicriteria decision analysis.

Robert combines approaches from geography, economics and ecology to identify the proximate causes and underlying drivers of forest expansion in Chile.

Hajin's research focuses on international trade and the environment.

Staci is interested in the ecological and economic impacts of climate change on coral reef ecosystem services. She plans to examine the physiological mechanisms behind thermal resilience of coral colonies and to develop economic valuations of climate change resilience.

Justin studies how climate change and climate variability affect people.

Chikara studies the distributional and competitiveness impacts of climate and clean energy policies. In particular, he is interested in using econometric techniques as well as simulation using energy–economy models to study the impact of such policies on low-income households and on the creation of domestic clean energy industries.

Sudatta studies the impacts that different energy systems have on resources and food security. Her work aims to inform developing country policymakers in their decisions on providing access to energy.

Through functional MRI, neuroeconomics analyzes the financial decision-making process at the level of discrete brain structures, allowing insights into the way we think about and route information. Nik's research adapts neuroeconomics techniques to assess decision-making in environmental questions.

Siders studies the role of governance and institutional design in the integration of climate change adaptation and disaster risk mitigation in the coastal built environment. Her research is geographically diverse, including Europe, coastal megacities, the Arctic, and South East Asia. Her work focuses on providing information, tools, and processes that aid decision-makers in building international coastal resilience.

Aiga's research combines concepts and methods from land use and transportation economics, urban sociology, and urban design in an effort to understand the environmental, social, and economic sustainability implications of urban planning interventions targeting low-income populations.

Shannon studies artisanal fishing communities in small island nations in South East Asia and Oceania and how they are affected by tourism, marine protected areas, conflict, social learning networks, and governance structures. She is also interested in developing new qualitative methods of research using film and photography.

Jose's research interests center on the governance and sustainable management of marine natural resources in developing countries, particularly in Nicaragua.