{"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":"
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