Sarah joined the University of Exeter as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in October 2023 with a background in social and natural sciences. She obtained her BSc in economics followed by a MSc in climate sciences with a focus on economics at the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research in Switzerland. Prior to the current role, Sarah was a Horizon 2020 ITN Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellow at the University of Birmingham, where she received her PhD entitled “Essays on the Economics of Wildfires”.  Her doctoral research combined satellite imagery and econometric methods to quantify the impacts of wildfires, focusing on risk modelling, economic damages, and health and human capital outcomes. She is currently the economic lead on an international team producing the State of Wildfires report, working alongside experts in climate science and ecology.

Sarah’s research focuses on the economics of natural capital, with particular emphasis on extreme events, forest loss, and conservation. She studies how climate-related shocks, such as wildfires, affect economies, ecosystems, and human well-being, examining impacts on employment, livelihoods, GDP growth, health, migration, and biodiversity. She also investigates the effects of forest loss, including their role in driving zoonotic disease outbreaks, and assesses the effectiveness and additionality of forest conservation policies. She uses causal inference and applied econometrics to provide robust evidence that can inform equitable and effective environmental decision-making.

Sarah’s main research interests include:

• Environmental economics
• Applied econometrics
• Climate science
• Biodiversity and natural capital
• Natural hazards and extreme events