I am a PostDoctoral researcher with broad interest in ecological and climate economics, sustainability, computational modelling and complexity science. I particularly focus on inequality and distributional analysis as well as the intersection of economic and ecological systems. I employ, for example, input-output analysis, household-level data and agent-based modelling.
My interests are broad, but they centre around making the world a more sustainable and better place. In all of my work, I try to emphasize quality over quantity. Every research piece I consider not only a contribution to science but also a little piece of “art.” I believe this attitude helps write with clarity, conduct analysis with rigor, and come up with creative ideas. Moreover, I am very interested in quantitative, data-driven, and computational methods. Modeling helps structure ideas systematically, while empirical testing is the ultimate standard any theory has to meet.
I work almost exclusively with Python these days, and I am very much for an open-source culture in science.
I also believe that, in times of a “post-truth internet,” where emotion-driven narratives compete for setting the overall direction of society, scholars have a responsibility to focus on a fact-oriented and rational discourse—and to contribute to a bigger whole.
Despite faithfulness to rigor and reason, I do value “bold” and “high-risk” research ideas. I think those should be incentivized rather more than less. In terms of science communication, being snappy and blunt is sometimes necessary to make a point—especially with climate change, where the evidence is beyond crystal clear.
I view teaching as an integral part of my job. There is no better way of learning than teaching. Science ultimately benefits from engaging with students and their fresh perspectives. After all the word "Doctorate" comes from the Latin "docere," meaning "to teach", and was orignally conceived as a teaching qualification among academics. Today, mistakenly, it is often believed that medical doctors are the "original" doctors, but in fact, the term has its roots in academia. Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_(title).
Teaching people how to think critically for themselves is what motivates me the most. In today’s world of hyper-abundant information—fact and fiction—it is more important than ever for students to acquire “meta”-skills. This means, for example, learning how to learn and understanding first principles of methods and phenomena that can be applied across changing contexts.