Proposal Description: The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, a joint initiative between the Yale School of the Environment and Yale Law School, applies data-driven environmental policymaking to advance sustainability agendas in governance, financial, and societal applications around the world. The Center is directed by Professor Daniel Esty, a leading expert in environmental policy, sustainable finance, and trade reform. The Center seeks Tobin Research Fellows with a passion for applying their economics expertise to resolve outstanding environmental issues. Tobin Fellows will work closely with Professor Esty, Center Associate Director Tyler Quinn Yeargain, and postdoctoral associates Nathan de Arriba-Sellier and Martin Wolf.

The Center’s Tobin Fellows will perform research tasks related to the Yale Initiative on Sustainable Finance (YISF) and the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) report.

The EPI is the world’s leading data-driven framework to track the success of environmental policies in over 180 countries around the world. Fellows would work to advance fresh insights into leading policies on climate change, air quality, biodiversity, and other issues relating to sustainable economic development. Specific tasks include statistical and visual analyses of environmental datasets, exploration of the drivers of environmental performance, and writing memos on issues relating to sustainable development.

The YISF aims to produce fresh thinking and cutting-edge research on the challenges to integrating sustainability concerns into financial markets and investment decisions. YISF functions as a knowledge hub and provides space for intellectual exchange among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. Through applied research and multidimensional collaboration, YISF seeks to answer some of the most challenging questions facing investors and regulators. Specific tasks include statistical analyses, literature reviews, organizational support for YISF’s activities and writing memos on issues related to sustainable finance.

Requisite Skills and Qualifications: Applicants should have excellent writing skills, strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and interests in sustainable finance or sustainable economic development and in data-driven environmental policy. These positions require flexibility to rapidly research and produce written deliverables in support of the Center’s research agenda. Successful applicants will work well independently and within larger research groups.