I am a PhD candidate in Sustainable Development at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

My PhD program includes the core economics PhD sequence with additional social and natural science training.

From 2021-2022 I served as the Climate Staff Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

I do research on environmental, health, and public economics, climate, inequality, benefit-cost analysis, and collective action. I use multiple methods, including applied econometrics, applied theory, and climate-economy modeling.

My research has been covered in outlets such as the NYTimes, NPR, Scientific American, and Vox.

Get in touch: rdb2148 (at) columbia.edu

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I am on the 2024-2025 job market.

Selected Recent Work

Bressler, R. D. (2021). The mortality cost of carbon. Nature Communications, 12(1), 1-12. 247 citations as of 11/13/2024 Coverage in 228 news outlets including New York Times, NPR, Scientific American, Vox. 1st of 1,735 in Nature Communications Altmetric Score. Cited in Supreme Court Case West Virginia Vs. EPA (2022). 2021 Top 25 Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences Articles. Best Paper by a Graduate Student awarded by the Oxford University Global Priorities Institute. Weather Channel Interview.

Wilson, A.*, Bressler, R.D.*, Ivanovich, C., Tuholske., Raymond, C., Horton, R., Sobel, A., Kinney, P., Cavazos, T., & Shrader, J. (2024). Heat Disproportionally Kills Young People: Evidence from Wet-Bulb Temperature in Mexico. (*equal contribution). Accepted at Science Advances.

Bressler, R.D., Shimberg, N., Rennels, L., Errickson, F., Parthum, B., Smith, D., & Anthoff, D. (2024). Large Disproportionate Mortality Impacts on the Global Poor Drive a Higher Income Weighted Social Cost of CO2. Resubmission invited at Nature.

Bressler, R. D., Moore, F. C., Rennert, K., & Anthoff, D. (2021). Estimates of country level temperature-related mortality damage functions. Scientific Reports-Nature, 11(1), 1-10. 38 citations as of 11/13/2024. Coverage in MIT Technology Review, The Conversation, The Guardian, Yale Climate Connections. 96th percentile in Scientific Reports Altmetric Score. Editor’s Choice.

Bryant, A., Lewy, J., Bressler, R.D., Chopra, Z., Gyori, D., Bazzell, G., Moeller, J., Jacobson, S.,A. Fendrick, A.M., Kerr, E., Ramnath, N., Green, M., Hofer, T., & Strohbehn, G. (2024). The Lancet Oncology. Projected environmental and public health benefits of extended-interval dosing: an analysis of pembrolizumab use in a US national health system. 118 news mentions including NPR.

Bressler, R. D., & Heal, G. (2022). Valuing Excess Deaths Caused by Climate Change (No. w30648). National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Coverage in Vox. Tweet Thread.

Bressler, R.D. (2024). Breaking Down the Mortality and Social Cost of Carbon (JMP).