Sun is a Wesleyan Government graduate and current Brown Sociology PhD student interested in the political economy of renewable-energy transitions, climate finance, and how institutions define and govern climate risk.

Previous research experience: At Wesleyan, researched climate policy across eight Central Asian and South Caucasus countries and Russian and Chinese influence on regional climate policy for Prof. Peter Rutland. For Prof. Basak Kus, researched how economists defined climate risk and influenced U.S. climate policymaking since the Clinton administration. As a summer research fellow under Prof. Giulio Gallarotti, wrote a paper on corporate environmentalism in Thailand, including stakeholder interviews. Also completed a systems-thinking project on child marriage in Indonesia that won the Oxford Map the System Global Finals.

How I got started: For me it began with a question about Thailand: how do companies and governments respond to environmental pressure? I found faculty who would support a project on it, and that grew into broader work on climate policy. Eventually I wanted to keep studying these questions in grad school.

Open to being contacted: Yes

Preferred contact: LinkedIn

Advice/notes: Political economy; climate policy; climate finance and risk; renewable-energy transitions; Central Asia and the South Caucasus; corporate environmentalism in Thailand; stakeholder interviews; comparative policy research; independent summer fellowships; systems thinking; sociology PhD preparation.

Links

Location

Providence

Providence, RI, USA