Mentor: Elisabeth Moyer
Ayan Sarkar is a Master of Public Policy (MPP) student at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He works with Professor Elisabeth Moyer on the Mapping Energy History project, contributing to the development of historical datasets and visualizations that trace the evolution of the U.S. electricity industry, oil pipelines, and other energy infrastructure worldwide. Before graduate school, Ayan studied Environmental Economics and Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and worked across research and industry roles at the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction, Voltus, and Quantica Infrastructure. Ayan brings a strong quantitative and geospatial perspective to his work, combining data analysis, econometric methods, and spatial modeling to understand how infrastructure, markets, and policy interact to shape the pace and equity of energy transitions.
Outside of research, Ayan enjoys photography, cooking, and exploring cities through their food and architecture. He’s also an avid board game enthusiast and a fan of science fiction and sitcoms.