SIPA’s PhD in Sustainable Development Program Announces 2025 Placements
SIPA’s PhD In Sustainable Development program has announced recent job placements for eight newly-minted graduates.
Danny Bressler – Assistant Professor: Bentley University Economics Department
Tristan Du Puy – Postdoc: Columbia Center for Political Economy | Assistant Professor: Sciences Po Department of Economics
Tarikua Erda – Postdoc: NYU Stern Finance Department | Assistant Professor: NYU Stern-Abu Dhabi
Gabriel Gonzalez Sutil – Economist: Amazon
Nicolas Longuet Marx – Postdoc: Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) | Assistant Professor: UC Berkeley Department of Economics
Marguerite Obolensky – Postdoc: Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management | Assistant Professor: University College London, Department of Economics
Anna Papp – Postdoc: MIT Econ | Assistant Professor: UC Santa Barbara Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
Isabella Smythe – Machine Learning Engineer: Rhizome
The PhD in Sustainable Development program, inaugurated in 2004, was the first of its kind in the country. The program trains students in the social and natural sciences to provide them a deeper understanding of the most challenging problems of future human welfare. Students carry out scholarly research and conduct policy assessments aimed at sustainable development, employing rigorous methods in causal inference and structural modeling. This year’s cohort explored topics including the welfare impacts of agricultural insurance and subsidies, the effects of extreme weather, and patterns of political realignment.
“Students in our program come from as far away as Ethiopia and as nearby as Rhode Island,” said John Mutter, director of the program. “Their job placements are similarly diverse. They are placed in academic positions as post-docs and assistant professors at top-ranked universities in the US and Europe, but also as far away as Abu Dhabi, and in the private sector. Their outstanding scholarship obtained at SIPA will assure them stellar careers and benefit humankind.”
“The Sustainable Development PhD program allowed me to thrive as a researcher grounded in economics while embracing interdisciplinary environmental perspectives,” said Anna Papp, one of the program’s graduates. “I'm deeply grateful to the faculty, alumni, and fellow students for shaping my journey, and I'm excited for what lies ahead for all of us!"
“This program has a remarkable track record of successful placements,” said SIPA Professor Robert Metcalfe, this year’s PhD placement director. “Our alumni are now professors at Harvard, University of Chicago, UC Berkeley, London School of Economics, and University of British Columbia, among others, and hold influential roles at the World Bank, IMF, and national governments.”
“This year’s placements build on that tradition and join a vibrant community of scholars and policymakers who are truly changing the world for the better,” he added.