Chen Chen is a University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index Research Scientist. Chen researches climate change adaptation and its application for ND-GAIN, with particular emphasis on how socio-economic factors affect a society’s readiness to adapt to climate change. She is interested in the social-economic aspects of the Index.

Chen earned her Ph.D. degree in Economics from Defap Graduate School in Public Economics in Milan, Italy, a joint Ph.D. program of Catholic University of Milan and University of Milan-Bicocca. Before joining ND-GAIN, Chen was a researcher of Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) in Milan, Italy, where she worked on model-based climate policy assessment, as well as data and scenario development. Chen works on the policy balance between climate change mitigation and adaptation under the uncertainty of climate change impacts. Her work explores how the risk of catastrophic events is affected by quantifying costs and effectiveness for adaptation, as well as for mitigation.

Alongside her research work for ND-GAIN, Chen is also a research associate at the Notre Dame Initiative for Global Development (ND-IGD). Her related work through ND-IGD focuses on development strategies to improve the welfare of people in developing nations amidst rising global climate change challenges. Chen’s early career success is already evidenced by several awards from her undergraduate education at Zhejiang University in her native China and from her graduate studies as well. She has published several peer-reviewed articles and has presented at many international meetings and conferences.