Talevi, Marta
Marta Talevi is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics and Ad Astra Fellow in Behavioural Economics and Sustainability at the School of Economics, University College Dublin (UCD).
Marta holds a PhD from the London School of Economics (2020) and was then a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University School of the Environment (YSE) and an Assistant Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Marta is a member of EfD’s Sustainable Energy Transition Initiative (SETI) and Women in Environmental Economics for Development (WinEED).
Research interests
Applied microeconomics, environmental economics, gender equity and social inclusion, energy access, energy transitions, behavioural economics, impact evaluation, policy instruments for climate change mitigation, and climate resilience and adaptation (especially in rural areas).
Mentoring
Marta is a member of the PhD committee for 5 students (2 as primary supervisor) and has supervised several undergraduate and graduate theses. Academic mentor to several graduate students (mostly from groups that are under-represented in Economics and STEM) advising on research, grant applications and careers on climate and sustainability, clean energy, environmental protection, gender equity and social inclusions. Marta was a mentee in the Northeast Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA) Career Advancement and Mentorship (CAM) Program 2021-2023.
Grants
“Disentangling the costs of meter sharing: experimental evidence from Ethiopia”, IGC Research Grant (2025-2026); collaborator.
“Empowering Malawian Women Farmers through Precision Agriculture and Market E-Linkages” (EMPOWER-ME), Irish Aid & SFI-SDG Challenge (2025-2026); collaborator.
“Supporting a Positive Research Culture in Experimentation”, UCD ReCLAIM, Wellcome Institutional Fund for Research Culture (2025); co-applicant.
“Consumer Demand Flexibility in Electricity Use” (CoDeF), Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network (2024-2027); WP leader.
“Behavioural Research to Inform Green Home Transformations” (BRIGHT), SEAI RD&D Funding Programme (2024-2026); co-PI and WP leader.
“Solar-powered irrigation systems and resilience to climate change: a viability analysis”, EfD Research Fund (2023-2025); co-PI.
“Building resilience and adaptation to climate change through information technology and climate services: Smallholder and subsistence farmers in Benin”, Hamburg University Transfer Fund (2021-2022); co-PI.
UK Economic and Social Research Council grant for doctoral research (ESRC DTC) (2015-2019).
Policy engagement
Organizer of the UCD Economics & Energy Institute Workshop “The Economics of the Global Energy Transition: Policy-Relevant Research for Evidence-Based Policy” (2025) and the EfD-SETI workshop on "Solar-powered Irrigation and Sustainability" (2024).
Experience as a researcher and consultant for several policy institutes, such as the OECD Development Centre, Chatham House, Practical Action, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. Contributed to dissemination and knowledge exchange workshops with a policy focus at the UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), Electricity Camp in the Rockies, EfD and Sustainable Energy Transition Initiative annual meetings.
Awards
Finalist, 2021 USAEE Energy Economics Young Professional Best Paper Award Competition.
Lasserre-Renzetti Prize for best student paper at the 2019 Canadian Resource and Environmental Economics Association annual conference.