Michael Greenstone is the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, the College and the Harris School, as well as the Director of the Becker Friedman Institute and the interdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. He previously served as the Chief Economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, where he co-led the development of the United States Government’s social cost of carbon. Greenstone also directed The Hamilton Project, which studies policies to promote economic growth, and has since joined its Advisory Council. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the Econometric Society, and a former editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Before coming to the University of Chicago, Greenstone was the 3M Professor of Environmental Economics at MIT.

Greenstone’s research, which has influenced policy globally, is largely focused on uncovering the benefits and costs of environmental quality and society’s energy choices. His current work is particularly focused on testing innovative ways to increase energy access and improve the efficiency of environmental regulations around the world. Additionally, he is producing empirically grounded estimates of the local and global impacts of climate change as a co-director of the Climate Impact Lab. He also created the Air Quality Life Index™ that provides a measure of the gain in life expectancy communities would experience if their particulates air pollution concentrations are brought into compliance with global or national standards.

Greenstone received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University and a BA in economics with High Honors from Swarthmore College.

Shaoda Wang is the deputy faculty director at EPIC-China and an assistant professor at the UChicago Harris School of Public Policy. He was previously a Liang Family Fellow and a postdoctoral scholar at UChicago Economics. His research interests include political economy, development economics, and environmental economics. His research aims at understanding the political economy of public policy (design, implementation, effectiveness), with a regional focus on China. Prior to Chicago, he received his BA from Peking University, and PhD from UC Berkeley.

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Guojun He is an associate professor in economics and management & strategy at the University of Hong Kong. He holds a concurrent appointment at the Energy Policy Institute of University of Chicago (EPIC) and serves as the research director of its China Center (EPIC-China).
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Prof. He’s research tries to address some of the most challenging problems faced by developing countries and seeks to produce empirically-grounded estimates for optimal policy design. The majority of his work focuses on understanding the benefits and costs of environmental policies, while he also has broader research interest on development and governance issues.

Sam Ori is the Executive Director at EPIC and the Becker Friedman Institute. From 2013 to 2015, he served as Executive Vice President at Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), a Washington, DC-based organization dedicated to reducing American oil dependence in order to enhance economic and national security. From 2007 to 2013, Sam led SAFE’s policy work on a variety of topics, ranging from global oil and natural gas markets to transportation technology. Prior to joining SAFE, Sam spent four years working in the federal government at the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Department of State, including at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India.

Vicki Ekstrom High is the Senior Director for Communications and External Engagement for EPIC. Prior to coming to the University of Chicago, Vicki created and led the media and public relations efforts for the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change. She was also a speechwriter for the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, and a Press Secretary for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship under the chairmanships of Senators Mary Landrieu and John Kerry. Vicki started her career in Washington D.C. as the national beat reporter for the Bangor Daily News.

Dingding Li is a predoctoral fellow at EPIC-China. Before joining EPIC, Dingding received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Peking University, during which he developed research interests in health economics. His research focuses on understanding Chinese healthcare system reforms. During his fellowship, he studied the politics and health impacts of the nuclear power plants around the world.

Anran Tan is a predoctoral fellow at EPIC-China. Before joining EPIC, Anran received his master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in Economics from Peking University. His research interests mainly focus on Chinese political and juridical practice and its economic implications. Currently, he is working on exploring how local judgements shape the business environment based on civil intellectual property litigation and analyzing potential economic impacts with various data sources.

Moanna Tang is a research assistant at EPIC-China. Before joining EPIC, Moanna received her bachelor’s degree in social sciences, majoring in politics and economics, from the University of Hong Kong. She wants to study the political economy of the environment, and see how we can forge the cooperation of public and private institutions to tackle climate change.

Runren Zhou is a predoctoral fellow at EPIC-China. Before joining EPIC, Runren received his bachelor’s degree from Peking University and his master’s degree in EME with distinction from LSE. His research interests focus on political economy and labor economics. Right now, he is exploring the impact of political movements on the environment and working on an economic history project concerning social mobility.