Bio

Nina’s research interests lie at the intersection of environmental, health, and development economics and she is broadly interested in the social and environmental determinants of population health. Her dissertation looks at the health and environmental externalities of brick manufacturing in Bangladesh. Her other work is focused on reproductive health access and policies in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Israel. Before coming to Stanford, Nina worked as a Senior Research Analyst at NORC at the University of Chicago. She holds a Master of Public Policy from Duke University, with a certificate in International Development, and a BA in International Political Economy from UC Berkeley.

Honors & Awards

  • David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellow, Stanford Graduate Fellowship (2015-2018)

Contact

  • University - Student Department: Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources Position: Graduate

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 5015

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Nina’s research interests lie at the intersection of environmental, health, and development economics and she is broadly interested in the social and environmental determinants of population health. Her dissertation looks at the health and environmental externalities of brick manufacturing in Bangladesh. Her other work is focused on reproductive health access and policies in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Israel.

All Publications

  • Machine learning for environmental monitoring NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Hino, M., Benami, E., Brooks, N. 2018; 1 (10): 583–88

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41893-018-0142-9

    View details for Web of Science ID 000447322300013

  • How much do alternative cookstoves reduce biomass fuel use? Evidence from North India Resource and Energy Economics Brooks, N., Bhojvaid, V., Jeuland, M., Lewis, J., Patange, O., Pattanayak, S., et al 2016; 43 (February 2016): 151-173

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2015.12.001

  • Piloting Improved Cookstoves in India JOURNAL OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION Lewis, J. J., Bhojvaid, V., Brooks, N., Das, I., Jeuland, M. A., Patange, O., Pattanayak, S. K. 2015; 20: 28-42

    Abstract

    Despite the potential of improved cookstoves to reduce the adverse environmental and health impacts of solid fuel use, their adoption and use remains low. Social marketing-with its focus on the marketing mix of promotion, product, price, and place-offers a useful way to understand household behaviors and design campaigns to change biomass fuel use. We report on a series of pilots across 3 Indian states that use different combinations of the marketing mix. We find sales varying from 0% to 60%. Behavior change promotion that combined door-to-door personalized demonstrations with information pamphlets was effective. When given a choice amongst products, households strongly preferred an electric stove over improved biomass-burning options. Among different stove attributes, reduced cooking time was considered most valuable by those adopting a new stove. Households clearly identified price as a significant barrier to adoption, while provision of discounts (e.g., rebates given if households used the stove) or payments in installments were related to higher purchase. Place-based factors such as remoteness and nongovernmental organization operations significantly affected the ability to supply and convince households to buy and use improved cookstoves. Collectively, these pilots point to the importance of continued and extensive testing of messages, pricing models, and different stove types before scale-up. Thus, we caution that a one-size-fits-all approach will not boost improved cookstove adoption.

    View details for DOI 10.1080/10810730.2014.994243

    View details for Web of Science ID 000352323600006

    View details for PubMedID 25839201