Solomon Hsiang combines data with mathematical models to understand how society and the environment influence one another. In particular, he focuses on how policy can encourage economic development while managing global climate change, how natural disasters impact societies and the effectiveness of policy responses, and how environmental conditions influence social instability and violence.
Hsiang earned a BS in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science and a BS in Urban Studies and Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he received a PhD in Sustainable Development from Columbia University. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Applied Econometrics at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at Princeton University. He is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and served as a contributing author to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
