{"id":70,"date":"2024-04-25T14:14:53","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T14:14:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/2024\/04\/25\/bringing-investigators-eye-complex-social-challenges-anna-russo-0424\/"},"modified":"2024-04-25T14:14:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T14:14:53","slug":"bringing-investigators-eye-complex-social-challenges-anna-russo-0424","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/2024\/04\/25\/bringing-investigators-eye-complex-social-challenges-anna-russo-0424\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing an investigator\u2019s eye to complex social challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Anna Russo likes puzzles. They require patience, organization, and a view of the big picture. She brings an investigator\u2019s eye to big institutional and societal challenges whose solutions can have wide-ranging, long-term impacts.<\/p>\n

Russo\u2019s path to MIT began with questions. She didn\u2019t have the whole picture yet. \u201cI had no idea what I wanted to do with my life,\u201d says Russo, who is completing her PhD in economics in 2024. \u201cI was good at math and science and thought I wanted to be a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

While completing her undergraduate studies at Yale University, where she double majored in economics and applied math, Russo discovered a passion for problem-solving, where she could apply an analytical lens to answering the kinds of thorny questions whose solutions could improve policy. \u201cEmpirical research is fun and exciting,\u201d Russo says.<\/p>\n

After Yale, Russo considered what to do next. She worked as a full-time research assistant with MIT economist Amy Finkelstein<\/a>. Russo\u2019s work with Finkelstein led her toward identifying, studying, and developing answers to complex questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy research combines ideas from two fields of economic inquiry \u2014 public finance and industrial organization \u2014 and applies them to questions about the design of environmental and health care policy,\u201d Russo says. \u201cI like the way economists think analytically about social problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narrowing her focus<\/strong><\/p>\n

Studying with and being advised by renowned economists as both an undergraduate and a doctoral student helped Russo narrow her research focus, fitting more pieces into the puzzle. \u201cWhat drew me to MIT was its investment in its graduate students,\u201d Russo says.<\/p>\n

Economic research meant digging into policy questions, identifying market failures, and proposing solutions. Doctoral study allowed Russo to assemble data to rigorously follow each line of inquiry.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctoral study means you get to write about something you\u2019re really interested in,\u201d Russo notes. This led her to study policy responses to climate change adaptation and mitigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my first year, I worked on a project exploring the notion that floodplain regulation design doesn\u2019t do a good job of incentivizing the right level of development in flood-prone areas,\u201d she says. \u201cHow can economists help governments convince people to act in society\u2019s best interest?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to understand institutional details, Russo adds, which can help investigators identify and implement solutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFeedback, advice, and support from faculty were crucial as I grew as a researcher at MIT,\u201d she says. Beyond her two main MIT advisors, Finkelstein and economist Nikhil Agarwal<\/a> \u2014 educators she describes as \u201cphenomenal, dedicated advisors and mentors\u201d \u2014 Russo interacted regularly with faculty across the department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Russo later discovered another challenge she hoped to solve: inefficiencies in conservation and carbon offset programs. She set her sights on the United States Department of Agriculture\u2019s Conservation Reserve Program<\/a> because she believes it and programs like it can be improved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The CRP is a land conservation plan administered by USDA\u2019s Farm Service Agency. In exchange for a yearly rental payment, farmers enrolled in the program agree to remove environmentally sensitive land from agricultural production and plant species that will improve environmental health and quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can tweak the program\u2019s design to improve cost-effectiveness,\u201d Russo says. \u201cThere\u2019s a trove of data available.\u201d The data include information like auction participants\u2019 bids in response to well-specified auction rules, which Russo links to satellite data measuring land use outcomes. Understanding how landowners bid in CRP auctions can help identify and improve the program\u2019s function.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may be able to improve targeting and achieve more cost-effective conservation by adjusting the CRP\u2019s scoring system,\u201d Russo argues. Opportunities may exist to scale the incremental changes under study for other conservation programs and carbon offset markets more generally.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Economics, Russo believes, can help us conceptualize problems and recommend effective alternative solutions.<\/p>\n

The next puzzle<\/strong><\/p>\n

Russo wants to find her next challenge while continuing her research. She plans to continue her work as a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, after which she\u2019ll join the Harvard Department of Economics as an assistant professor. Russo also plans to continue helping other budding economists since she believes in the importance of supporting other students. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Russo\u2019s advisors are some of her biggest supporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finklestein emphasizes Russo\u2019s curiosity, enthusiasm, and energy as key drivers in her success. \u201cHer genuine curiosity and interest in getting to the bottom of a problem with the data \u2014 with an econometric analysis, with a modeling issue \u2014 is the best antidote for [the stress that can be associated with research],\u201d Finklestein says. \u201cIt’s a key ingredient in her ability to produce important and credible work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe’s also incredibly generous with her time and advice,\u201d Finklestein continues, \u201cwhether it’s helping an undergraduate research assistant with her senior thesis, or helping an advisor such as myself navigate a data access process she’s previously been through.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of an advisor-advisee relationship, working with her on a thesis felt more like a collaboration between equals,\u201d Agarwal adds. \u201c[She] has the maturity and smarts to produce pathbreaking research.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoctoral study is an opportunity for students to find their paths collaboratively,\u201d Russo says. \u201cIf I can help someone else solve a small piece of their puzzle, that\u2019s a huge positive. Research is a series of many, many small steps forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Identifying important causes for further investigation and study will always be important to Russo. \u201cI also want to dig into some other market that\u2019s not working well and figure out how to make it better,\u201d she says. \u201cRight now I\u2019m really excited about understanding California wildfire mitigation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Puzzles are made to be solved, after all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anna Russo likes puzzles. They require patience, organization, and a view of the big picture. She brings an investigator\u2019s eye to big institutional and societal challenges whose solutions can have wide-ranging, long-term impacts. Russo\u2019s path to MIT began with questions. She didn\u2019t have the whole picture yet. \u201cI had no idea what I wanted to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[138,137,130,135,133,139,140,134,131,141,136,132],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/sawberries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}