Moritz A. Drupp, Guest Professor at the Department of Economics, aspires to make himself obsolete as an environmental economist. He views the greatest challenge in the field today as finding effective ways to mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity in an increasingly polarized world.
Moritz A. Drupp is a Professor of Sustainability Economics at the University of Hamburg and a Malmsten Early Career Scholar. The Malmsten Early Career Scholar program aims to enhance research expertise at the School of Business, Economics, and Law by supporting promising researchers and fostering long-term collaborations and research networks. Drupp's research focuses on public policies for sustainability, with a particular emphasis on distributional issues related to climate, biodiversity, and environmental quality. He frequently visits the Department of Economics and will hold the General Economics Seminar at the department on March 4th.
What do you see as the biggest research challenges in your field right now?
"We have many research challenges. As an environmental economist, I always try to make myself obsolete, but this is sadly not on the horizon. At the moment, perhaps the biggest challenges is to figure out wow we can make tangible progress on mitigating climate change and conserving biodiversity in an increasingly polarised and fragmented world."
How can our department benefit from your visit and build long-term collaborations?
"Through the repeated visits, colleagues at the department get exposed to the range of issues I tackle with my research, and I also learn a lot about the exciting research that is ongoing in Gothenburg. By tossing ideas around repeatedly, new ideas can take proper form. Already early in the program, Thomas Sterner and I with other co-authors published a paper in Science on how the scarcity of nature can be better integrated into governmental decision making. There is still a lot to do on this topic and we are discussing potential follow-up ideas. I've also had fruitful discussions with other colleagues and can well imagine one or the other collaboration to evolve. Through closer ties, I can also imagine additional collaborations, such as on PhD student or PostDoc exchanges over time."
Do you have any advice for our PhD students and early-career researchers?
"My main advice is always to follow your passion, and/or to figure out what your passion really is. The academic process is long and sometimes cumbersome, so one should really take time to identify which areas and topics one wants to push forward also in times where things may be difficult. I believe that this largely comes from within, but I find early exposure to the breadth of the field extremely important. This is why I always try to finance the participation in the EAERE conference for my PhD students in the first year, even if they don't have a paper to present yet. Somewhat relates to this comes figuring out what one's own comparative advantage is in the profession, i.e. in which forms one can meaningfully contribute. This is dynamic of course, but I think it is very helpful also for deciding whether a career in academia is the right match or whether some other job should be the target. "
In the Malmsten Early Career Scholar research program, the School of Business, Economics and Law in Gothenburg strives to further enhance its research expertise by focusing on promising researchers in the early stages of their careers. The aim is to strengthen long-term research collaborations and build research networks.
