Benedikt is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Science, Technology and Environmental Policy cluster. He intends to research broadly at the intersection of technology and society with the aim to better understand the interconnection of the platform economy with our information ecosystem. Before joining Princeton, Benedikt held several research assistant positions, where he actively contributed to various academic projects. Additionally, he spent a summer conducting research at the Oxford Internet Institute, where he focused on the threat of misinformation on social media platforms. Beyond his academic background, Benedikt has already gained experience in the political arena working for the former German federal government’s head of digital policy, as well as in the platform economy at Google. Benedikt received a Master of Data Science for Public Policy from the Hertie School. He also holds a B.S. in management and computer engineering from the Technical University of Munich (TUM). 

Melissa is a Ph.D. student in the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy program, focusing on climate policy and behavior. Prior to joining the Princeton community, she worked for five years as the Sustainability Program Manager in the Office of Sustainability at Swarthmore College, where she developed innovative programs related to climate change, zero waste, and environmental justice. During this time, she also completed a part-time master’s degree in sustainable urban development at the University of Oxford. Her master's thesis applied urban governance theories to strategic planning for sustainability, with a case study of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. She previously worked at the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University, and holds a B.A. in psychology from Swarthmore.

Megan is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP) program. She graduated from the University of Chicago in 2018 with degrees in ecology and environmental studies. After her undergraduate studies, she did field research focused on the impact of climate change on plant communities in the Colorado Rockies, southeastern Australia, and central Florida. For the past several years, Megan has worked in local government in the Bay Area, implementing holistic, data-informed conservation approaches to better manage creeks and open space lands, and helping local farmers and ranchers implement carbon-sequestration practices on working landscapes. She is interested in plant conservation, climate change biology, local land management, and the policy-implementation gap. Outside of work, Megan likes to run, read fiction, cook, and find cats to pet.

Ava is a Detroit native interested in the study of history and public policy. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor in history and her MPhil in American History from the University of Cambridge. She has been a researcher for the University of Michigan Carceral State Project, worked with the asylum brief project of the Immigrant Justice Lab , and was actively involved with the Prison Creative Arts Program (PCAP). She is interested in studying connections between the American carceral state and national security, as well as policy responses to the rise of political extremism in the United States.

Yujie was born and raised in Luoyang, which is one of the most historical cities in China. As a Ph.D. student, he joined the STEP program at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs in the fall of 2020. Before coming to Princeton, he received his master's degree in environmental science from Zhejiang University and earned his bachelor's degree in environmental engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University. His previous research focused on using the chemical transport model (CTM) and other numerical models to characterize air pollution in China. At Princeton, he wants to use scientific methods to shed light on climate change and air pollution problems over the world, thus developing practical and effective policies to mitigate them while maximizing environmental benefits and minimizing economic costs.