Samuel Levy is a postdoctoral associate at New York University’s Department of Environmental Studies and member of Prof. Kimberly Carlson’s Agricultural Land Systems Lab. Sam is an interdisciplinary land system scientist with training in economics, geography, environmental science, and anthropology. He uses a wide range of research methods and designs in his work, including statistical models and fieldwork-based case studies. He received his PhD from ETH Zürich in 2021, under the supervision of Dr. Rachael Garrett where he and a member of the Environmental Policy Lab. Sam also holds an MSc in Environmental Change and Management from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute as well as a BA in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge.
Sam’s work focuses on understanding the effectiveness and equity of environmental policies, particularly those seeking to govern tropical deforestation. Previous work includes advancing understanding regarding the theoretical basis for effective zero-deforestation commitments, as well as qualitative and quantitative analyses of forest-focused private environmental policies in the Brazilian Amazons. At NYU, in addition to expanding his previous work on forest-focused private environmental policies, he is investigating the conservation impacts of Indigenous Lands in Indonesia. Sam’s CV is available here.