Andres d
- Research Program Mentor

PhD candidate at Harvard University

Expertise

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Ocean Policy, Public Economics, Tax Policy, Climate Change, Fisheries, Sustainability, Bioeconomics, Conservation Policy

Bio

I am a PhD student in the Harvard Economics Department working on the economics of ocean resources. My research studies how overlapping or absent legal authorities create challenges to managing natural resources like fisheries, minerals or ocean biodiversity. I like all of environmental economics, with a special love for the intersections of economics and ecology. Outside of the academy, I like to play Dungeons and Dragons, listen to Taylor Swift and country music, and watch the Sacramento Kings.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

The Future of Mining the Deep Sea

This project would produce a research report discussing the prospects and challenges of mining in the deep sea. The student would look into forecasts of mineral markets, resource needs, and technological development and put together a report into the future viability of deep sea mining as an industry. They might also study the ecological consequences that would occur if deep sea mining were ever done at scale.

Prospects for Solar Geoengineering

Solar Geoengineering is a controversial option for rapidly cooling the planet, without removing carbon from the atmosphere, in cases of climate emergency. In this project, the student would explore options for solar geoengineering and produce a research report on their prospects and pitfalls.

Endangered Species Protection

This project would involve a student studying policy options for the protection of one or more endangered species. This would culminate in a research report discussing the economic and ecological issues at play with species conservation.

Coding skills

R, Julia, Stata, Mathematica, ArcGIS

Languages I know

Spanish, advanced

Teaching experience

In college I was a high school debate mentor within the Boston Urban Debate league. As a graduate student I have been a sophomore advisor within my old undergraduate house, and have taught as a head teaching fellow and course head. As course head I lead a sophomore tutorial which is designed to introduce undergraduates to reading and writing academic economics papers.