Carolyn Fischer

In 1997, Fischer earned a PhD in economics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.[3]

Fischer was a staff economist at the Council of Economic Advisers to the President from 1994 to 1995.[4] She then went on to join Resources for the Future in 1997, where she is now a senior fellow .[2] Dr. Fischer was an EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow from 2014 to 2016.[4] She has also been a Marks Visiting professor at Gothenburg University from 2017 to 2018, a Dahrendof Visiting Follow at the London School of Economics, a UCE3 Senior Fellow at the University of California Santa Barbara, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.[2] Dr. Fischer is a consultant for the World Bank Group, a staff economist for the Council of Economic Advisors, and has taught at Johns Hopkins University.[2]

Having previously been on the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists board of directors, Fischer is now a part of the expert advisory board for the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change in Berlin, the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change, Economics for Energy, and the Environmental Defence Fund.[4] Having become one of the world's leading environmental economists, Dr. Fischer is currently a professor and thesis supervisor at the Vrije Universiteit-Amsterdam.[3] She is teaching environmental and natural resource economics, as well as policy instrument design.[3] Fischer is one of 20 academics working as a Canada 150 Research Chair in Climate Economics, Innovation and Policy at the University of Ottawa.[1] Along with being a senior fellow for Resources for the Future, Dr. Fischer is also a Tinbergen Institute affiliate, a CESifo Research Network fellow, a fellow with the European Commission at Venice's Eni Enrico Mattei foundation, and a member of Environment Canada's Economics and Environmental Policy Research Network.[4] Fischer serves on the scientific board of Economics for Energy and the economics advisory board of the Environmental Defense Fund.[4] She is also a part of the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, as both vice-president and council member.[4] Dr. Fisher is co-editor of Environmental and Resource Economics, also on the editorial board of the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy and the International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics.[4]

A majority of Fischer's work revolves around climate policy, including carbon pricing systems and emissions taxes.[1] Fischer has said that she is fond of working in Canada as the federal government is a global leader regarding climate change policies, stating that “Canada has made a strong commitment to address greenhouse gas emissions…That makes it an exciting time to be working on climate policy in Canada, especially from an environmental economist’s perspective.”[1]

Fischer has become a global leader in environmental economics for her research in climate change policy.[1] She has authored over 50 academic articles on environmental economics. Her research has consistently surrounded environmental policy and modelling tools, specifically climate and energy policy.[3] Fischer often incorporates microeconomic policy into her articles, especially when discussing environmentally and natural resource management.[3] She has addressed a variety of topics through her research, including resource management, renewable energy, carbon leakage, cap and trade systems, and others.[3] She has also written about energy efficiency programs, the Clean Development Mechanism, as well as international policy and trade.[2] Regarding natural resource use and management, Fischer has written about eco-certification, wildlife conservation, invasive species, and technological innovation.[2] Her recent research has been surrounding international trade and climate policy.[2]

Fischer has been the recipient of a 2018 prize for her work as a Canada 150 Research Chair in Climate Economics, Innovation and Policy regarding spatial economics.[3]