Welcome! I am a PhD candidate in the Sustainable Development program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and at the Climate School.

I study the intersection of urban and environmental economics, focusing on how households value, respond to, and adapt to localized environmental costs—from road-level traffic noise and transit-related air pollution to temperature-related mortality and the role of weather forecasts as an adaptation tool. I also study income and racial segregation and how they interact with environmental factors.

Before starting my PhD, I worked as a consultant at the World Bank in the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery and as a research assistant at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. At both institutions my research was focused on the intersection of development economics and natural disaster impacts—areas that still interest me.

I received my BSc in Economics from Freie Universität Berlin, hold an MSc in Statistics from Imperial College London, and a Masters in International Trade, Finance, and Development from the Barcelona School of Economics.

If you are interested in my research and would like to chat, please reach out!

Contact: stephan.thies@columbia.edu