Nicolas Choquette-Levy

I am an interdisciplinary scientist with a background in chemical engineering and public policy, and my research focuses on developing policies to secure rural livelihoods against rising climate and environmental risks. Growing up, two of my favorite magazines were Scientific American and Foreign Affairs: I was always curious to learn about the latest science and technology breakthroughs, but I also loved learning about different cultures and languages. I double-majored at the University of Southern California in biomedical engineering and international relations. I wasn’t sure how to combine those two interests until I interned with the Canadian Consulate in San Francisco. At that time, California was developing several influential climate and environmental policies, and the Canadian government wanted to understand their impact on its economy. I enjoyed using my interdisciplinary skills to translate the impacts of these technical regulations to people in government.

I returned back to Canada to pursue a Master’s at the University of Calgary in Energy and Environmental Systems, and then worked for five years in the Canadian oil and gas industry to develop plans for managing environmental and social risks. I learned a lot during those years, which made me even more curious to learn about methods to help communities, organizations, and governments proactively plan for rapidly-changing environmental and economic conditions.

During my PhD at Princeton University, I gained expertise in tools such as game theory, agent-based modelling, and surveys to investigate how diverse communities respond to future climate and policy scenarios. I conducted field research in Nepal, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, to understand how farmers are perceiving changes in their environment. During my postdoc (split between Boston and Cornell Universities), I’ve started new projects with stakeholder groups in Senegal and Brazil – all with a focus on developing modelling tools to help communities think through the implications of development policy under different climate futures.

At Penn State, I’m excited about refining these tools to analyze how decision-makers at local, national, and international scales can better collaborate to achieve their development goals while managing climate risks. In addition to my international-focused work, I am keen to work with local farmers and community organizations in PA to think about how rural communities in our own backyard can develop secure, thriving futures in a climate-shaped world.