Chiara Falco

I am an environmental social scientist working at the intersection of economics, ecology, and development. My research focuses on how environmental and policy shocks, from climate change and extreme weather to large infrastructure investments and trade regulations, reshape livelihoods, land use, and rural economies across the Global South. Drawing on microeconometric methods, spatial analysis, and field-based data from Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South-East Asia, I study the human consequences of environmental change to inform more effective and equitable policy. I have published in leading international journals, including Global Environmental Change, Ecological Economics, World Development, and Journal of Rural Studies, and I am currently an Associate Editor at QOpen.

I am an affiliate at the University of São Paulo and a research associate at the Research Center of Public Policy and Religion (USP). 

I am on the board of directors of the Italian-Brazilian Economic Association. 

I am Andrea's wife and Matilde and Samuele's mum. You can read our book here on our three years as lay missionaries working for Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere (PIME) in the slums of São Paulo (BR).