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PhD in Sustainable Development Student Profiles
Semee Yoon
Semee Yoon is a third-year student in the PhD Program in Sustainable Development. Her main research interests lie primarily in the nexus of environmental and development economics, especially in agriculture and ecosystem services that influence human health. She is also interested in climate change adaptation projects and policies in developing countries, primarily energy-related issues (smart grids and renewable energy). Her current projects include risk preferences and agricultural technology adoption of Malawian farmers and political economy of environmental planning of the South Korean government.
Semee obtained her B.A. in Economics with a special concentration in Sustainable Development in 2010 at Columbia University with a honors thesis on the impact of a new environmental regulation on the top Korean companies. Since 2009, she has worked as a research assistant for Dr. John Mutter and Dr. Elisabeth King on the similarities and differences between violent conflicts and natural disasters. In 2008, she worked on the development of evaluation indexes for Korean firms to prepare for risks presented by climate change at the Korea Environment Institute, and she was the only undergraduate representative of the Korea Energy Management Corporation at UNFCCC COP 14 in Poznan, Poland. She hopes to incorporate both environmental science and development economics to provide practical policy implications, especially in developing countries.
Website: http://www.columbia.edu/~sy2229