Risa Lewis

Education
BS, Applied and Resource Economics, University of Connecticut

Bio
Risa is a first-year PhD student in the Economics and Environmental Science (EES) emphasis.  She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Applied and Resource Economics and a minor in English.  During her undergraduate career, Risa studied sustainable environmental and food systems in Florence, Italy and gained an appreciation for different cultural approaches to the balance between the economy and the environment. Subsequently, she worked as a research assistant to Dr. David Just at Cornell University, studying the impact of a food truck on children’s nutritional choices. Her former research also includes studying the implementation of on-farm anaerobic digesters as a Project Drawdown Scholar and writing a thesis on the non-market valuation of different levels of support during the investment process. After witnessing the demand for interdisciplinary work and the limitations of international cooperation while serving as a student delegate to the 24th meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice, Poland, Risa gained a greater desire to apply behavioral economics insights to models and assumptions underlying climate policy issues.

At the Bren School, Risa hopes to explore this area by examining topics such as catastrophe-sensitive preferences and the balance between market-based carbon policies and so-called “complementary policies”.

Year Admitted
2020

Research Areas
TBD

Faculty Advisor
Kyle Meng and Robert Heilmayr (Social Science Group)