Solomon M. Hsiang is an American scientist and economist who directs the Global Policy Laboratory and is the Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. He co-founded the Climate Impact Lab and is a National Geographic Explorer. Hsiang’s work has been featured in media articles and impacted policy across international and US federal institutions.
Education
In 2006, he received a B.S. in Ocean and Atmospheric Physics, writing a thesis on “Ozone chemistry during global glaciations” advised by
R. Alan Plumb
R. or r. may refer to:
* ''Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler.
* '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King
* ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen
* or , abbreviat ...
, and a B.S. in International Development and Regional Planning, both from
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
. He was mentored by
David Autor
David H. Autor (born 1967) is an American economist, public policy scholar, and professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he also acts as co-director of the School Effectiveness and Inequality Initiative. A ...
,
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo, FBA (; born 25 October 1972) is a French–American economist who is a professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is the co-founder and co-director of the Abd ...
, and
Kerry Emanuel
Kerry Andrew Emanuel (born April 21, 1955) is an American professor of meteorology currently working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. In particular he has specialized in atmospheric convection and the mechanisms acting t ...
.
In 2011, Hsiang received a PhD in Sustainable Development at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. His dissertation developed new methods to integrate climate science, economics, and political science. His thesis advisors were Mark Cane and William Bentley MacLeod. Hsiang completed postdoctoral appointments at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
with
Michael Oppenheimer
Michael Oppenheimer (born February 28, 1946) is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, the Department of Geosciences, and the Princeton Environmental Ins ...
and the
National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...
with
Wolfram Schlenker and
David Lobell
David B. Lobell is an agricultural ecologist. He is currently the Gloria and Richard Kushel Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment and Professor of Earth System Science at Stanford University. He is additionally a William Wrig ...
.
Career
Hsiang joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley in 2013 in the
Goldman School of Public Policy
The Richard and Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy, or the Goldman School of Public Policy (GSPP), is a public policy school and one of fourteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally named the Graduate Sch ...
, where he was tenured in 2015 and promoted to full professor in 2018. At Berkeley he founded the Global Policy Laboratory, an interdisciplinary research group focused on using data science to understand the effects of global environmental change and international policy on economics, conflict, health, and agriculture. In 2019 he was a visiting professor at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
.
Hsiang co-founded the Climate Impact Lab with Robert Kopp,
Michael Greenstone
Michael Greenstone is an American economist and the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, the College, and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. He serves as director of the Energy Policy Instit ...
, and Trevor Houser, a collaboration of climate scientists, economists, and computational experts. The lab conducts research and advises governments and companies.
Research
Hsiang’s work is characterized by applying econometrics and machine learning to questions that bridge science and economics.
Climate change
Hsiang’s work on the
economics of climate change
The economics of climate change concerns the economic aspects of climate change; this can inform policies that governments might consider in response. A number of factors make this and the politics of climate change a difficult problem: it is a l ...
demonstrated that high temperatures and hurricanes slowed economic growth, including in the United States. Hsiang’s research indicates climate change could reduce economic output and increase economic inequality. In a 2017
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
op-ed, Trevor Houser and Hsiang calculated that
Hurricane Maria
Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...
likely destroyed 26 years of economic development in
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.
Hsiang and his coauthors demonstrated that climate changes influence the likelihood of violence in human societies around the world and throughout history. Hsiang’s team has calculated that global warming will increase crime and civil conflict.
In a 2014 analysis, Hsiang and coauthors demonstrated that extended periods of extreme temperatures increased migration in Indonesia. With
Adam Sobel
Adam H. Sobel (born 1967) is a Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics and of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. He directs its Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate. His research area is meteorology with a fo ...
, he demonstrated that weak temperature gradients in the tropics could cause extreme migrations even in a +2C warming scenario. Hsiang’s team has analyzed the effectiveness of multilateral policies, such as lifting the UN moratorium on international trade of elephant ivory, geoengineering, and law of the sea.
Health
In a 2020 analysis, Hsiang’s team calculated that mortality from climate change could exceed 2018 mortality rates for all infectious diseases worldwide. In work with Marshal Burke and coauthors, Hsiang and his team demonstrated that high temperature increase suicide rates in the United States and Mexico. Jesse Anttila-Hughes and Hsiang showed that 12% of infant mortality in the Philippines could be traced to typhoons.
In 2020, an analysis by Hsiang and the Global Policy Lab demonstrated that non-pharmaceutical interventions were highly effective as slowing the spread of
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
. They calculated that by April 2020, policies prevented 495 million infections. In an interview with
The Rachel Maddow Show
''The Rachel Maddow Show'' (also abbreviated ''TRMS'') is an American liberal news and opinion television program that airs on MSNBC, running in the 9:00 pm ET timeslot Monday evenings. It is hosted by Rachel Maddow, who gained a public p ...
, Hsiang stated that “
hese policieswere a historic feat… that saved more lives in a shorter period than anything else in human history.”
Awards
Hsiang received the Science for Solutions Award given by the
American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's a ...
for “significant contributions in the application and use of Earth and space sciences to solve societal problems.” In 2014, he was listed by Forbes Magazine in their 30 under 30 list. He was named a Kavli Fellow at the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
in 2016, an AI for Earth Innovation Fellow at Microsoft Corporation and the National Geographic Society in 2019, and an Andrew Carnegie Fellow by the Carnegie Corporation in 2020. He was awarded the President’s Medal by the
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences.
History
The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...
in 2020.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsiang, Solomon
American economists
University of California, Berkeley faculty
American climatologists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people