Welcome! I am an environmental economist studying how fires and air pollution shape human welfare. My research: (i) investigates how environmental shocks disrupt individuals/communities; and (ii) examines the behavioral and institutional responses that emerge from these shocks. I regularly partner with state governments and use methods from microeconomics, econometrics, and remote sensing to answer these questions. I am on the 2026-2027 Job Market.
My research is supported by the International Growth Center, Schmidt Family Foundation, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and The World Bank. My work has been published in The Economic Journal, Science, and Energy Policy.
Previously, I was a Research Fellow at the Development Research Group at the World Bank and a Pre-Doc at Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), UCLA. I hold a BSc. (Honors) in Economics from Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan.
Email: mnadeem(at)bren(dot)ucsb(dot)edu
Address: 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5131