I am an empirical microeconomist who graduated from the MSc in Economics for Development at the University of Oxford in 2018. I have now returned to the Oxford Department of International Development to undertake research on the CGIAR Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) Research Program on Gender led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) under Dr Cheryl Doss. This project aligns closely with my own research which uses quantitative methods to research how remittances affect the labour supply of men and women, and agricultural productivity in rural Bangladesh. Concurrently, I am working as part of The Technology and Management Centre for Development on digital technology, social trust, and inclusive development in China alongside the UNDP. I have an MA(Hons) in Economics from the University of Edinburgh.

Michelle Wagner is a Research Associate at the United Nations University – operating unit of Sustainable Cycles Programme (SCYCLE) hosted by Vice-Rectorate in Europe (UNU-VIE). Michelle is currently working in the ORAMA project which focuses on optimizing data collection for primary and secondary raw materials in Member States. For the past two years, she has worked in the Prospecting Secondary Raw Materials in the Urban Mine and Mining Waste (PROSUM). PROSUM directly supported the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials. ProSUM constructed a comprehensive inventory identifying and mapping critical raw materials (CRM) stocks and flows at national and regional levels across Europe and enable interdisciplinary collaboration, improving dissemination of knowledge and support policy dialogues. In 2007, Michelle graduated with distinction from the Catholic University in Tegucigalpa, Honduras with a Bachelor degree of Environmental Engineer. For her thesis she evaluated the energy generation and assed the hazardousness of the sewage sludge from a UASB waste water treatment plant in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. From 2007-2009, Michelle worked as an environmental analyst for the Honduran Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mines. As part of the management team of the department of Evaluation and Auditing she performed environmental feasibility assessment, elaborated terms of reference for environmental impact assessment, developed and audited environmental mitigation measures, conducted on-site project inspections for issuing environmental licenses and collaborated with other departments of the ministry (i.e. Department of climate change) in order to promote environmental policies. In 2009, she was granted a scholarship to study a master in material science and sensor systems applied for environmental technologies at UPV, Valencia and KTH, Stockholm. As part of her master thesis in 2012, she did a thorough research on Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in order to evaluate the viability of making a new polymeric blend from WEEE material and assessed the feasibility of its reintroduction to the market as a recycled material, by using state of the art characterization methods. In 2014 Michelle worked for FLOCERT, in the department of Business Development, Climate Change Unit, where she assisted in the calculation of the company’s carbon footprint and elaborated reduction and improvement plans to decrease the company’s carbon footprint. On her spare time she is a PhD student in Leiden University on the assessment, recovery rates and environmental criticality of Strategic Raw Materials (SRM). Beside studies, she is part of Cyber Mentor Program where she mentors kids and gets them interested in MINT courses (math, informatics, biology, technology…), in the field of science and engineering. She is also part of LAC Footprint, which is an initiative which attends potential or existing projects of the export sector of Latin America and the Caribbean by providing them with accurate information and trainings in sustainability to build capacity and networks.

Abel Chemura is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany working on integrated agricultural systems research with crop models and earth observation data at local and regional scales with focus in the tropics. He has over 12 years experience in systems agronomy where he supports evidence-based decision making with satellite remote sensing for agricultural applications and biophysical modelling. His experience is in rapid crop appraisal for climate impact assessment and development of sustainable adaptation methods. He is also working with strategic foresight modelling which uses machine learning algorithms on big data on climate, management and remotely sensed data to establish production potential that is useful in informing technical and policy decisions on the probabilities of successful cropping under current and projected climatic conditions. He is passionate about contributing to agricultural development in Africa through use of integrated modelling to inform technical planning and policy making for climate resilience.

Linda Gonçalves Veiga is Professor of Economics at the University of Minho. Holding a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of South Carolina (USA), she teaches and does research in the areas of Public Economics and Political Economy. She published widely and coordinated several research projects funded by external entities. She has been a member of the Board of the European Public Choice Society. Linda Veiga has been pro-rector of the UMinho, vice-president of EEG/UMinho, and director of the Centre for Research in Economics and Management (NIPE), the Department of Economics, and the Ph.D. and Master programs in Economics. She also has consultancy experience, namely for the United Nations, the OECD, the North Regional Coordination and Development Commission, the Portuguese Court of Auditors and the Directorate General of Local Governments.