My summer work focused on building a research base on investing to address climate change, in support of an upcoming book by Professor Bruce Usher. This work focused on three distinct areas:
- different strategies for integrating climate change into investments (e.g., divestment, thematic investing, impact-first investments)
- different types of investments available to investors targeting these issues (e.g., public equities, debt securities, venture investments)
- specific investment areas focused on climate change, primarily accessed through project finance (e.g., renewable energy, energy storage, forestry, carbon capture, and storage)

My work within these areas was designed to identify and catalog robust sources of information to support Professor Usher in writing his book, as well as identify any stories of people involved with or affected by the issues involved so as to help humanize what could otherwise become overly abstract. In this way, my goal was to help Professor Usher communicate the seriousness of climate change alongside the robust tools available for investors to help fight it. Both this research and the book itself aimed to support Columbia Business School in its mission of creating value for stakeholders and society at large, and the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise in particular in its goal of using business tools to address these critical environmental challenges.

My work would not have been possible without the skills and knowledge I’ve gained while at Columbia Business School. In particular, I found the foundational knowledge gained through Climate Finance class set me up for success by ensuring I went into the job with a broad understanding of the latest developments in the field. My Impact Investing class also helped me understand some of the nuances between market-rate and impact-first investors that proved critical in developing that part of my research.

Further, I found that my experience as a Three Cairns Fellow at CBS, during which I supported the Lightsmith Group in identifying and validating investments for their adaptation and resilience PE fund, gave me a very useful lens into the investor mindset that governs the selection of potential climate change-focused opportunities. The Three Cairns Fellowship also helped me refine my research skills I these areas, which ultimately allowed to be more efficient and effective in my summer role.