Jessie Lu

My research combines economic reduced form methods with ecological modeling to study how ecosystem degradation impacts human welfare and how policy decisions impact environmental quality. I am particularly interested in these dynamics in the context of cities, health, and/or development.

I recently received my PhD from the Sustainable Development Program at Columbia University. Prior to my PhD, I worked at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Center for Global Development. I hold a BA in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania.

In fall 2026 I will be joining the Environment and Geography Department at the London School of Economics as an Assistant Professor of Biodiversity Economics.

Email me at jl6001[at]columbia[dot]edu. You can access my CV here.

Working Papers

Fenced In: Biodiversity Loss, Land Degradation, and Beef Production in Southern Africa

Urban Tree Loss and Unequal Adaptation to the Emerald Ash Borer

Physical and Mental Health Benefits from Urban Parks (with Abigail Dow and Graeme Peterson)

Publications

Bridging the Gap Between the Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Compound Risks, Environmental Research Letters, (with Leah Jones-Crank and Ben Orlove), 2024

Presentations

Summer Conference, AERE, 2025

Environmental Economics PhD Workshop, London School of Economics, 2024

Summer School in Environmental and Energy Economics, UC Berkeley, 2024

Teaching

Human Ecology (PhD Level), 2024 & 2025

Gender and Applied Economics (Undergraduate Level), 2023