Graduate Students
The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) does not offer an independent graduate programme but senior SSEE academics are able to supervise students who are admitted to the Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) programme at the School of Geography and the Environment or other DPhil programmes around the University of Oxford. Prospective graduate students should apply through the School of Geography and the Environment's International Graduate School in the first instance.
Choosing a supervisor
DPhil students are required to identify primary and secondary supervisors. If you wish to work with a member of the SSEE you should contact them directly to discuss your proposed topic. The following SSEE staff are available as primary DPhil supervisors:
In addition, some members of the School of Geography and the Environment's academic staff have related interests and may co-supervise with SSEE staff if they are interested in the project and are not already oversubscribed in terms of supervision.
Current Doctoral (DPhil) Research Students
The international and interdisciplinary nature of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment's research is reflected in the range of postgraduate research topics our graduate students undertake:
Michael 't Sas-Rolfes
Conflicting framings in global conservation governance: Consequences for African megafauna
Supervisor: Dr Laurence Wainwright
Andrew Armstrong
Revenue patterns of piped water services in rural Africa
Supervisors: Prof. Rob Hope; Dr Johanna Koehler
Kaya Axelsson
Defining Net Zero - Investigation the Emergence and Interpretation of New Climate Standards
Supervisors: Prof. Cameron Hepburn; Dr Caitlin McElroy
Moritz Baer
Climate Risks and the Financial System - The role of climate-stress testing for central banks and financial regulators
Supervisor: Dr Ben Caldecott
Konstantin Born
Circular economy and eco-innovation in the mining sector
Supervisors: Dr Caitlin McElroy; Dr Alex Money
Joris Bücker
Long term (economic) policy tools based on complexity economics and the non-linear planetary impact of climate change
Supervisor: Prof. Doyne Farmer
Andrea Byfuglien
A behavioural perspective on decisions around land use: on social influence, risk, and collective action
Supervisors: Dr Mark Hirons and Dr Stefania Innocenti
Kathryn Condon
Supervisors: Dr Alex Money and Professor Cameron Hepburn
Paulo de Souza
Can society and corporations share the same perspective on sustainability? Should they?
Supervisor: Prof. Gordon L. Clark
Sophie Erfurth
Governing Common Pool Resources in Fragile Political Systems: Modelling Behaviour, Institutions and Social-Ecological Dynamics
Supervisor: Dr Dustin Garrick
Safa Fanaian
Rivers and cities: exploring their complex water-risk and its governance
Supervisor: Dr Dustin Garrick
Adam Ferris
Studying decision architecture to find key behavioural intervention measures for increased traction in green consumption
Supervisors: Prof. Cameron Hepburn; Dr Stefania Innocenti
Rob Ferrito
Using a feminist ethic of care to evaluate women's engagement with digital economy in Ethiopia
Supervisor: Professor Katrina Charles
Ella Fleming
Assessing the intersection of climate change and emerging conflict in the Sahel and East Africa
Supervisors: Dr Dustin Garrick; Dr Timothy Clack (Archaeology);
Matteo Gasparini
Exploring the role of financial institutions in the low carbon transition and the implications for financial stability
Supervisors: Prof. Cameron Hepburn
Gina Gilson
Governing informal water markets in Eastern Africa
Supervisor: Dr Dustin Garrick
Jimmy Jia
A new tool for energy and environmental valuation to improve decision making for capital deployment of climate-resilient infrastructure
Supervisors: Dr Ben Caldecott; Dr Nicola Ranger; Dr Abrar Chaudhury
Nameerah Khan
Bangladesh's arsenic crisis: Navigating the complexities of the science-policy interface of water quality and health
Supervisors: Prof. Katrina Charles; Dr Sonia Hoque
Tonny Kukeera
Holistic Business Models: Connecting Electricity Access to Sustainable Development
Supervisor: Dr Aoife Brophy
Max Nathanson
Strategic Urban Development and the Climate-Security Nexus in US Foreign Policy: Evidence from Central America
Supervisor: Prof. Cameron Hepburn
Brian O'Callaghan
Supervisor: Professor Cameron Hepburn
Emily Olsson
Supervisors: Dr John Ingram and Dr Caitlin McElroy
Adam Parr
Law and regeneration in seventeenth-century England
Supervisor: Prof. Cameron Hepburn
Rebecca Peters
Bringing back Golden Bangladesh: Regulation, institutions, and the political economy of river pollution
Supervisor: Prof. Rob Hope
Elena Pierard
Anticipating sustainability transitions: how energy majors engage with cleaner technologies
Supervisors: Prof. Gordon L. Clark; Dr Aoife Brophy
Swisa Pongpech
Stranded assets in downstream SMEs in Thailand: Assessing risks and resilience
Supervisor: Dr. Ben Caldecott
Carter Powis
A multi-disciplinary analysis of the role of transient negative emissions in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement
Supervisors: Prof. Cameron Hepburn; Dr Steve Smith
Xiyu Ren
The impact of the energy transition on the economy: studies on the pattern and the relationship between policy contexts, firm decisions and innovation choices
Supervisors: Prof. Cameron Hepburn; Dr François Lafond
José Luis Reséndiz
Transition finance and sustainability-linked assets: metrics and incentive structures
Supervisor: Dr Ben Caldecott
Ian Robertson
A Framework for Responsible Investment, with particular focus on proxy voting
Supervisor: Prof. Gordon L. Clark; Prof Professor Jonathan Michie, Professor of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, Continuing Education
Sandra Serumaga-Zake
Water Infrastructure Finance in sub-Saharan Africa
Supervisors: Professor Rob Hope and Dr Alex Money
Sugandha Srivastav
Essays on the post-carbon transition
Supervisor: Prof. Cameron Hepburn
Johannes Wagner
Research project on Rural Water Finance in Africa, with fieldwork in rural Mali and in cooperation with UDUMA.
Supervisor: Prof. Rob Hope
Stephanie Walton
Stranded assets in the transition to sustainable and healthy food systems: Risks and implications for the cattle and beef sector in the USA
Supervisor: Dr. Ben Caldecott
Charles Wight
Scarcity and Scale: Designing Water Markets for People and the Environment
Supervisor: Dr Dustin Garrick
Christian Wilson
Paris Aligned Portfolios and the Real Economy
Supervisor: Dr Ben Caldecott