This summer, seven UChicago master’s students are beginning new adventures into the research field through EPIC’s graduate student research fellowships.
The two programs, the James Bartlett Fellowship Program in Energy and Environmental Policy and DRW Graduate Fellowship in Economics and Policy, pair students with UChicago faculty mentors conducting energy, environment or climate research.
The summer 2026 cohort brings expertise in health science, engineering, finance and more to EPIC’s interdisciplinary research projects. During their full-time summer positions, Fellows will gain first-hand research experience, mentorship from esteemed faculty, and build connections with fellow researchers.
Continue reading to meet our newest graduate research fellows.
Sinan Grehan
Sinan GrehanDRW Fellow; Mentor: Hajin Kim
Sinan is an M.S. in Computational Analysis and Public Policy (MSCAPP) student at the Harris School of Public Policy. As an undergraduate student at Reed College, Sinan’s environmental research included topics such as the impact of natural disasters on migration flows, and the relationship between FEMA aid and state-level income inequality.
As a DRW Fellow, he will work with Professor Hajin Kim on topics such as studying the effect of a landmark Supreme Court decision on wetlands development, and analyzing corporate sustainability tools.
Dohyun Kim
Dohyun KimBartlett Fellow; Mentor: B. B. Cael
Dohyun Kim is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the University of Chicago, with an academic background in oceanography and coastal engineering. Her interests focus on the intersection of environmental policy and engineering, climate adaptation, and infrastructure decision-making along the coastal regions.
As a Bartlett Fellow working with Professor B. B. Cael, she is excited to contribute to numerical climate-economy modeling and policy research on decarbonization investment strategies under technological change and economic inertia.
Firouz Niazi
Firouz NiaziDRW Fellow; Mentor: Kiran Chawla
Firouz Niazi is a Master of Public Policy candidate at the Harris School of Public Policy. Before joining the program, he worked for several years in public sector consulting and supported local and state government clients with identifying and planning approaches to new federal infrastructure, energy, and climate mitigation/disaster grant and loan programs.
As a DRW Fellow, Firouz will continue his research with Dr. Kiran Chawla, focusing on how U.S. state governments are managing new pressures climate adaptation financing as federal funding remains uncertain and localized climate vulnerabilities intensify.
Wendy Wang
Wendy WangBartlett Fellow; Mentor: Eyal Frank
Wendy Wang is an M.S. student in Computational Analysis and Public Policy (MSCAPP) at the Harris School of Public Policy. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a public health responder and supported environmental policy research at the Stimson Center, the Harvard Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, and NRDC Beijing.
As a Bartlett Fellow, she will work with Professor Eyal Frank using multi-state administrative and spatial datasets to analyze the impact of climate-driven shifts in wildlife populations on vehicle collisions, and evaluate the effectiveness of wildlife passages as a policy intervention.
Yuxuan Zhang
Yuxuan ZhangBartlett Fellow; Mentor: Shaoda Wang
Yuxuan Zhang is a first-year Master of Public Policy student at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. Her research interests lie in the political economy of environmental policy—how political institutions and incentives shape regulatory enforcement and environmental outcomes. Prior to Harris, she earned an LL.B. from Tsinghua University and worked at NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics as a research assistant.
As a Bartlett Fellow, she will work with Professor Shaoda Wang on systematically quantifying the economic costs of China’s “war on pollution” since 2013, leveraging administrative data on firm-level abatement and production decisions.
Xiaokang Zhou
Bartlett Fellow; Mentor: Hyuk-soo Kwon
Xiaokang Zhou is a first-year MACRM student at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. Her research interests lie at the intersection of labor and climate policy, with a focus on leveraging multiple datasets to understand how household decisions shape economic outcomes. Previously, Xiaokang earned a Bachelor of Economics and Finance from the University of Hong Kong.
As a Bartlett Fellow, Xiaokang will work with Professor Hyuk-soo Kwon, applying her data analysis skills to a project using structural models to analyze the dynamics of gas and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
Zhiyuan Zhou
Zhiyuan ZhouDRW Fellow; Mentor: Olga Rostapshova
Zhiyuan Zhou is a Master of Public Policy student at the Harris School of Public Policy. His work focuses on applying data-driven and empirical methods to inform policy design and evaluation. With a background in economics and data science, he applies quantitative tools to analyze energy systems, environmental challenges, and their policy implications.
As a DRW Fellow, he will support large-scale environmental policy research under Olga Rostapshova at the Energy & Environment Lab.