Hosted at the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, the Environmental Inequality Lab summer program offered a student-centered research training and mentorship experience for six students and three pre-doctoral research associates interested in exploring research careers at the intersection of economics, public policy, and environmental science.
Interns worked closely with Jonathan Colmer, associate professor of economics and public policy and director of the Environmental Inequality Lab, and Jay Shimshack, professor of public policy and economics. They were joined by Grant Seiter, a second-year doctoral student in economics who helped design and lead the internship.
The program began with a two-week intensive research training bootcamp. Interns developed core competencies in data management, data analysis, and reproducible coding practices. The program aimed to develop professional skills, helping students grow into early-career researchers capable of managing projects, communicating clearly, and contributing meaningfully to collaborative research teams.
Following the training program, interns joined active research projects with the Environmental Inequality Lab. They contributed to new analyses seeking to understand how our environment shapes economic opportunity and well-being, as well as to evaluate the impact and cost effectiveness of environmental regulation. Working in small teams and meeting regularly with faculty, interns built new datasets and conducted exploratory analysis.
In addition to the research, interns also worked to develop new public-facing data products which translate academic research into accessible formats designed to support real-world decision-making. For example, using new data created in collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau, interns developed short briefs on population patterns and trends and how they intersect with environmental conditions for every county in the United States. The interns also supported real-time analyses of extreme weather events, documenting not only where and when disasters were expected to strike, but who was likely to be affected.
“The goal of these products is to democratize access to information so that everyone can work off a shared understanding of the environmental conditions that people face,” Colmer said. “By providing decision-makers and the general public with information that they would not otherwise have, we hope to facilitate more effective and equitable decision-making.”
The Environmental Inequality Lab looks forward to continuing to build on this internship model in future years, expanding opportunities for students and pre-doctoral researchers to grow as scholars while contributing to high-impact, policy-relevant research. The program reflects UVA’s commitment to student-centered learning, mentorship, and public-impact research while highlighting the Batten School’s mission to prepare students to tackle critical public problems, translate evidence into action, and be engaged leaders who effect meaningful change.
