Christopher Barrington-Leigh

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Prospective Students / Postdocs:

I am looking for (economics/etc) students/postdocs to start in the autumn of 2025, working on SWL econometric/measurement issues related to my recent work on focal values. If that does not fit your interests and timeframe, I may not be able to respond to your inquiry while I am on sabbatical.

When contacting me about working in the research team, please include the following information in your email:

A copy of your academic transcript
Your CV
A sample of your writing (this is often a completed course paper)
A short account of your interests

For graduate students, please also include

A brief outline (1-2 paragraphs) of your research interests and ideas/questions you'd like to work on. Naturally, they will need to relate somewhat closely to my current work and expertise.
If you have your own funding, how you propose to fund your work.
If appropriate (if English is not your first language), please also include your last TOEFL score.
I supervise graduate students in the Department of Economics. It may be possible to supervise PhD students in another department; you will need to understand the processes for applying to your chosen department.

Former students: Please write to let me know what you're up to, and I will update your blurb below with a one-line status.

Diversity: We are allies to diverse ethnic, gender, and other identities, and to diverse learning and working styles. Minority-identity students encouraged to join us!

Current members

Xiang Zhang

Xiang is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at McGill University. He compeleted his Master's degree in Peking University（China), majoring in Environmental Economics and Policy. His research interests include environmental and energy policy, people's choice and welfare. Now he is co-supervised by Professor Barrington-Leigh on the energy transition program focusing on the the coal-to-electricity intervention currently transforming home heating in rural China.

Fajle Rabbi Ashik

Fajle Rabbi is pursuing a Master of Science in Geography at McGill. He has a Bachelor's degree in urban and regional planning from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. His primary interest is to comprehend the relationship between urban spatial form and logic and the myriad social and environmental impacts it generates. Together with Professor Barrington-Leigh and Professor Kevin Manaugh, he is researching the effects of street network configuration on urban form, travel behavior, land value, and social and economic diversity.

Yuhou Chen

Yuhou is a second-year master’s student in Sociology at McGill. She completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication at Sun Yat-sen University (China). Her research interests are social policy, health communication, environmental health, social networks and online communities. She will work with Professor Barrington-Leigh on the Canadian Wellbeing Knowledges Network as a DEEP Internship program intern.

Former Postdocs

Idrissa Ouili

Idrissa Ouili completed doctoral studies in Economics in University of Montreal (Canada). His PhD focused in impact evaluation in the field of demographic economics, particularly in education, health and family planning. He received M.Sc. in Statistics and Econometrics from University of Toulouse (France) and an engineering degree in Statistics from ENSEA (Ivory Cost). Before starting his Ph.D. program, he worked for seven years as researcher at the Higher Institute of Population Sciences (ISSP) of University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. During this period, he participated and coordinated several socio-economic research projects on poverty, education, family planning, health and migration. He was successively technical agent in charge of researchers assistance and field manager in charge of field operations coordination in the Ouagadougou’s Demographic and Health Surveillance System. His research interests include methods to assess the determinant and inequality of well-being and their effect on education, health and family planning in both developing and developed countries.

Former Students

	Julia Macdonald Julia Macdonald graduated from McGill with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and Psychology. She is now preparing to start her Master’s in Psychology at UdeM, researching the structure of personality types, psychological needs, and values. Her interests center around the application of psychological insights and metrics to the realm of public policy, with a particular interest in the field of wellbeing-based policy. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh and his team at the Canadian Wellbeing Knowledges Network.
	Krishna Aroomoogon Krishna is a fourth-year computer engineering student. He is passionate about data science and cloud computing. He is working with Prof. Barrington-Leigh on the hosting of the world wellbeing panel surveys.
	Madeleine Feehan Madeleine is a fourth-year undergraduate at McGill university, working towards her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Environment. She is interested in how individual characteristics, such as mental health, personalities, and attitudes, can be used to inform policy-making strategies. Maddie’s role in Professor Barrington-Leigh’s team is to edit footage from interviews on wellbeing policy approaches with CWKN leaders and network members.
	Herbie (Zizhan) He Herbie is a fourth-year Undergraduate student at McGill University majoring in Computer Science. He is greatly interested in machine learning and web development. He will be working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on urban street network connectivity.
	Alize Gunay Alize Gunay is an MSc student in the department of Family Medicine and a graduate fellow at the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh and Jennifer Proudfoot on mapping wellbeing discourse and contributing to knowledge exchange activities for the Canadian Wellbeing Knowledge Network.
	Katia Dragan Katia Dragan is a third-year undergraduate student at McGill University, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in honours Political Science with a minor concentration in Hispanic Studies. She is interested in demography and has a background in quantitative research focusing on labour and public health inequalities. Under Prof. Barrington-Leigh’s supervision, Katia will be supporting the activities of the Canadian Wellbeing Knowledge Network.
	Megan Butler Megan is a first-year graduate student in the Master of Science in Public Health (MScPH) program at McGill University. She is interested in health equity and health policy. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh and Jennifer Proudfoot to support dialogue groups for the Canadian Wellbeing Knowledge Network.
	Natasha Kandage Natasha Kandage is a second-year undergraduate student at McGill University, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Environment and Development, and a minor in Psychology. She is drawn to the relations between social policy, happiness, well-being, and equality, and she is interested in pursuing a career in social and economic progress and working with children. Natasha will be working on the development of a database of solved collective action problems.
	Ada Collins Ada (she/her) is a second-year undergraduate pursuing a B.A. in Economics and Environment in the Bieler School of Environment at McGill University with a Minor in English Literature. Her study interests include how to foster and improve environmental incentives within the public policy and economic spheres. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on developing a database of solved collective action problems and an associated theoretical framework.
	Pryor Sohn Pryor Sohn is a third-year undergraduate student a McGill. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in International Development. He is interested in the relationship between freedom and happiness and is looking for a career in political and economic development. Pryor will be working on the development of a database of solved collective action problems.
	Su Zhang Su is a first-year Master's student in the Department of Economics at McGill University. She completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics with minor concentrations in Feminist Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. Su is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to update and expand a database on wellbeing and progress indicators.
	Amélie Gaillard Amélie is a second-year undergraduate student at McGill, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts & Science in Cognitive Science (Psychology Stream) and a Minor in Environment. She is interested in the two-way relationship between the human mind and the environment, particularly in understanding environmental decision-making dynamics. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on developing a database of solved collective action problems and an associated theoretical framework.
	Syed Ahmad Munirul Asra Syed Ahmad Munirul Asrar completed his BA in Honours Economics and Mathematics at McGill University. His interests include development economics, statistics and social policy. He wants to learn more about the ways in which matters of urban space impact human wellbeing. He is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on developing a database of solved collective action problems and an associated theoretical framework.
	Gwendolyn Dane Gwendolyn Dane is a fourth-year undergraduate student at McGill, completing bachelors degrees in Economics and Environmental Studies with a concentration on Development. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on developing a database of solved collective action problems and an associated theoretical framework.
	Aïché Danioko Aïché is a second-year student doing a B.A. in Ecological Determinants of Health. She is interested in determinants of well-being and ways to achieve it collectively. She is working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on the development of a database of solved collective action problems.
	Tiffany Yong Tiffany Yong is a third-year student doing a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics. She is interested in the structure of incentives in our society, particularly related to mechanism design. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on developing a database of solved collective action problems and an associated theoretical framework.
	Syndy Shi Syndy is a fourth-year undergraduate student at McGill University, pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce (Double Concentration in Strategic Management & Finance) and a Minor in Environmental Sciences. She is interested in corporate sustainability and hopes to work with businesses to incorporate sustainability into their decision-making. She works with Prof. Barrington-Leigh on building a database of Economics of Happiness courses.
	Wassim Wazzi I am a fourth-year undergraduate student at McGill, completing a Bachelors in Statistics and Computer Science, with a minor in Finance. I am interested in data science, AI, and software development.
	Anushri Pundit Anushri is a U2 Civil Engineering student, minoring in Environment. She is interested in the sustainability of cities and infrastructure. She is working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to relate street network connectivity to quality of life.
	Ben Boehlert Benjamin is a fourth-year undergraduate student at McGill University studying economics. He is working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on expanding a database of progress and well-being indicators. His other research interests include American economic policy and the value of cash benefits on reducing poverty and improving life outcomes.
	Doreen He Doreen recently finished her B.Sc. in Computer Science at McGill University. She is passionate about product design, application development, and data analytics. She works with Prof. Barrington-Leigh to improve data visualization and user experience on lifesatisfaction.ca.
	Katja Lemermeyer Katja is a U3 student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with minor concentrations in Geography and Environmental Studies at McGill University. Her research interests include economic geography and the use of subjective wellbeing measures to inform policymaking. She is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to compile a Canadian Database of Happiness Coefficients.
	Su Goh Su is a U3 Honours Economics student minoring in Computer Science and Mathematics. She is interested in how cities evolve and the implications of these growing pains. She is working with Professor Barrington-Leigh in exploring the current state of policy governing urban expansion, with special regard to street network connectivity. Su hopes to pursue a career in policy work after graduating.
	Abdullah Sumbal Abdullah is a U4 student pursing a Bachelor's degree of Software Engineering. He is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to visualize street networks in relation to urban sprawl.
	Andras Nemeth Andras is a U3 Honours Economics and Computer Science student. He is interested in all kinds of interdisciplinary approaches to the study of economics, especially those that apply data science in new and interesting ways. After graduation, Andras hopes to pursue urban economics or industrial organization, in or outside of academia.
	Sam Lumley Sam is a second year Master's student in the Department of Geography and School of Environment. His research explores the role of user-centred design in the development of interactive climate change tools. He is working to better understand how user-based development practices influence the effectiveness of interactive tools as devices for scientific communication. Sam is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to develop an online interface for a global dataset of urban connectivity.
	Sichen Wan Sichen is in her final year doing a B.Sc in Honours Environment, with Envirometrics Domain, and minoring in GIS and Remote Sensing. Her research interest lies in the analysis of spatial environmental data, in both ecological and urban contexts. She developed an interest in climate change policy during her work at Climate Scorecard as a country manager.
	James Brace James is currently is pursuing his BA in Honours Software Engineering. He has developed a passion for JavaScript performance and compilation after doing research with McGill’s compiler group as well as working at LinkedIn as a performance engineer. At the IHSP he is serving as a full stack developer and is building websites to visualize happiness and sprawl data.
	Henry Fung Henry is currently in his U3 year in Honours Economics with a minor in Mathematics at McGill University. He is interested in learning how economic data is collected, analyzed, and used to evaluate the impact of policies in sustainable economic development. His is currently investigating with Professor Barrington-Leigh the relative effects of income, job satisfaction, health, and social activities on life satisfaction using anchoring vignettes. Henry previously volunteered for the UNDP Knowledge Management group and had developed an interest in income inequality, poverty, and social exclusion in developing countries. Henry has an engineering background and has previously worked as an Avionics Systems Engineer for the flight simulator manufacturers CAE Inc. and Textron Inc. in Montreal.
	Jan Wollenberg Jan is a second year masters student in the department of geography. After completing his undergraduate degree, he worked in environmental consulting for three years before returning to graduate school. He is a firm believer in the importance of multi-disciplinary research and its ability to help inform effective policy. Jan is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to analyze the results of a large community-based wellbeing survey in the U.S. He hopes to use the unique data set to develop policy-relevant interpretations of the ways in which social and environmental factors impact personal wellbeing.
	Alex Ballyk Alex is entering her final year of her Bachelor’s degree at McGill, pursuing a double major in Economics and Chemistry. She intends to pursue graduate studies in economics, and her academic interests include behavioural economics and the economics of wellbeing. Alex is currently working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to analyze the impacts of a coal-to-electricity program on household wellbeing in rural Beijing.
	Gal Kramer Gal Kramer is in her final year at McGill. She is pursuing a degree in Geography (urban systems) and International Development Studies with a minor in Environment. Her interests include sustainable urban development, urban agriculture and social connectedness in relation to urban design. Her previous research experience has included various community studies of Jews in the United States, an internship investigating accessibility to public transit in Panama City and a study of the environmental impact of academic related long-distance travel here at McGill. This semester as an Intern at the IHSP Gal will be working with a dataset of cities around the world to explore changes in their street networks in relation to urban sprawl.
	Sabina Sloman Sabina completed a B.A. Honours in Economics at McGill University. She wants to learn about collaborative systems, how social data are selected, processed and analysed, and how her computer solves problems. She’s currently working with Prof. Barrington-Leigh to develop a set of tools that use OpenStreetMap data to look at how street-level connectivity impacts socio-economic and environmental indicators. Earlier, she and Prof. Barrington-Leigh coauthored a study on well-being in Canada.
	Adriene Harding Adriene is currently completing her Master of Arts in Economics at McGill University. She received Bachelor degrees in Economics and International Development from the University of Ottawa. Adriene’s research interests include environmental economics, sustainable development, and social policy. Adriene is currently working on a research project with Professor Barrington-Leigh on road network connectivity and urban development in Canada.
	Julie Skarha Julie Skarha is finishing her last year of a Bachelors of Arts and Science degree studying Honors Sustainability, Science, and Society with a minor in Statistics. Through the IHSP, she is working with Professor Barrington-Leigh to examine current well-being initiatives taking place across the world and how they could be applied to Montreal. Julie's interests include investigating the relationship between sustainability initiatives and subjective well-being.
	Chinmay Sharma Chinmay is currently a PhD student at the Department of Economics at McGill University. He received Honours Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto and Master of Specialized Economic Analysis from the Graduate School of Economics at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Autonomous University of Barcelona. His interests include Applied Microeconometrics and has worked with microdata with applications to family economics, gender-wage inequalities and health economics. At IHSP Chinmay will explore the relationship between economic inequality and happiness.
	Tássia Araujo Tássia is a third year student at McGill majoring in Environment - Ecological Determinants of Health - with a minor concentration in Geographic Information Systems. She has a background in Computer Science and is an enthusiast of Free Software, being a Debian Developer and an OpenStreetMap contributor. In 2015 she received the Centraid Solidaires Award - Next Generation in recognition of her work with Santropol Roulant and the collective Les Fruits Défendus. At IHSP she will work with Prof. Barrington-Leigh and her main goal is to learn how to put technology at the service of environmental and health research.
	Juno Garrah Juno Garrah is a U1 student pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Environment, with a focus on Water Environments and Ecosystems and a minor in Geographic Information Systems. Juno’s research interests focus on using mathematical models and quantitative data to inspire public policy and decisions relating to urbanization, particularly the water resources, freshwater systems, or coastal areas of an urban region. At the IHSP, Juno will be working with Prof. Barrington-Leigh on urban sprawl and connectivity research.
	Adam Carruthers Adam is currently finishing his Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science at McGill. His academic interests include distributed systems, programming language design, and machine learning. At the IHSP, Adam will be working with Prof. Barrington-Leigh to implement a multiplayer game.
	Matthew Tenney Matthew, a PhD student in Geography, is collaborating on work related to GIS algorithms on open street data.
	Fatemeh Behzadnejad Fatemeh is a PhD student at the department of Economics, McGill University. Her project is on the relation between weather fluctuations, local pollution, and subjective measures of well being. She is interested to see to what extent these measures depend on transient factors such as weather variations and short-term environmental quality. She is using evidence from the Canadian Community Health Survey and National population Health Survey.
	Alice Escande Alice Escande is finishing her Bachelor of Arts and Science with an Honours degree in Cognitive Science and a minor in International Development Studies. Her multidisciplinary education in both the Social and Behavioral Sciences spurred her interest in the sociology, economics and ethics of health research and policy. At the IHSP, she has worked on analyzing the success and methods of measures of well-being with Prof. Barrington-Leigh. In the fall, she will continue her work in happiness economics and manage the implementation of a community well-being survey in Montreal.
	Michael Abramson Michael Abramson is completing the final semester of a B.A. Honours in Economics, with minor concentrations in Computer Science and English Literature at McGill University. He is working with Professor Barrington-Leigh on indicators of well-being for Quebec. He has diverse research interests which include subjective well-being, energy economics and income distribution. Ultimately he is interested in working on economic policy within one of these domains.
	Hugh Shiplett Hugh Shiplett is currently a Master student in the Department of Economics at McGill. He received Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota Duluth with a double major in economics and philosophy. His interests include the intersections of Urban, Development and Environmental Economics. At the IHSP, Hugh will be working on the creation of a high-resolution database for subjective well-being in Canadian cities. He also works as a tutor through the McGill Tutorial Service. He will be competing on the McGill Department of Economics' team at the Econometrics Game, at the University of Amsterdam.
	Mark Ouliaris
	Jung Hwan Kim Jung Hwan is currently completing his Master of Arts in Economics at McGill University, and he received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Chinese from Emory University. Jung Hwan's research interests include Economic Development, Subjective Well-Being in East Asian countries, and International Economics. Jung Hwan is currently helping with the research project - jointly conducted by Professor Barrington-Leigh and Korean Development Institute - on measuring and explaining the Subjective Well-Being in South Korea.
	Bronwen Tucker Bronwen Tucker is pursuing a B.A. & Sc. in Environment with a minor in Economics. Her primary research interests are policies & tools for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Bronwen has interned at a climate change consultancy researching emissions reduction projects for agriculture, energy, and urban transport, and at the Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre, doing research on diverting waste from landfills. She is the coordinator Divest McGill and sits on the Student Ambassador Board for the Office of Sustainability. At the IHSP, Bronwen is researching regional energy usage in Canada and the equity effects of existing climate policies.
	Austin Dunn Austin is a third year student at McGill studying Software Engineering and Music Technology. His interests are in sound design, web development, and music performance. He is from Maryland but grew up abroad in Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Georgia, and most recently Bangladesh. His international background is what sparked his interest in Professor Barrington-Leigh's study on global urban well-being and happiness, which he is currently working on as a programmer.
	Ramya Muthukumaran Ramya is an MA student at the Department of Economics, McGill University. Previously, she has completed a Master's in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as a Bachelors in Visual Communications from MOP Vaishnav College for Women (Chennai). Her project is on using anchoring vignettes to analyse life satisfaction across countries. She is interested in understanding how subjective measures of well-being could contribute towards better policy making in developing countries.
	Chris Thomas Chris is a final-year Joint Honours in Economics and Finance student who previously studied in the McGill School of Environment. Chris worked on data collection and groundtruthing for US road network sprawl. His interests include macroeconomics, public policy, and marathon racing.
	Katie Keyes Katie Keyes is a U1 student pursuing a B.A. in urban systems and sociology. She is interested in healthy urban planning that facilitates social well-being. At the IHSP, she is surveying existing well-being measurements worldwide, with the end goal of aiding in the development of a measurement of well-being within Quebec.
	Yu-Cheng (Greg) Chang Yu-Cheng (Greg) Chang received his BA from Simon Fraser University in 2006 and is now completing his Masters degree in Economics at McGill University. His research interests includes social policy, health economics and development economics. Prior to his Masters program, Greg worked as a Junior Policy Analyst with Environment Canada looking at the issue of toxic chemicals in products. His research at IHSP investigates how objective measures of health outcomes affect individuals' subjective well-being throughout their life cycle.
	Ronald Ho Ronald Ho is now in his final semester pursuing a major in Agricultural & Environmental Economics and a minor in International Relations. He has a passion for human well-being, environmental policies and international politics. He founded a new McGill student club called the Investment Bank of Happiness to advocate happy living and spark the discussion on well-being studies on campus and in the Montreal community. He is now conducting alongitudinal approach looking at the relationship between income inequality and happiness of one country.
	Jerry Lee Jerry Lee is currently in her U2 year at McGill and is majoring in Physiology with a minor in Economics. She developed a passion for subjective well-being while she worked as a research assistant at the UBC Attentional Neuroscience Laboratory this past summer. Jerry works with Prof. Barrington-Leigh on the "Income Inequality and Happiness" project. On campus, she is an active member of the Physiology Undergraduate League of Students, the International Relations Students' Association of McGill, and the Montreal Brain Awareness Campaign.
	Angela Zheng Angela Zheng is currently doing a B.A. in Honours Economics with minors in Mathematics and Biology. Her interests are in environmental and social policy as well as climate change and energy economics. After completing her undergraduate degree, she plans on pursuing a graduate degree in economics.
	Marc Jacquemond Marc Jacquemond received a B.A from McGill University in Urban Systems and worked on the topic of Inequality and Happiness in Germany from 1984 to 2010 under Prof.Barrington-Leigh's supervision at the IHSP. His research interests include regional and urban policy, social policy and well-being studies. He will be studying regional and urban planning at SciencesPo and the LSE starting in September 2012.
	Joaquín Kritz Lara Joaquín Kritz Lara recently finished his BA in Economics and International Development Studies from McGill University. He is working with Prof. Barrington-Leigh on the distributional impact of Quebec's cap-and-trade system on households, industry and the labour market. As an intern at UN International Labour Organization, Joaquín developed a passion for labour economics. He is particularly interested in the relationship between climate policy and employment.
	Clare Devereux
	Katherine Wagner Katherine is a first year student undertaking a Joint-Honors in Economics and Accounting, with a Minor in Environment. She is currently working with Prof.Barrington-Leigh on a project detailing the equity impacts of Quebec's newly implemented cap-and-trade system, a project that appeals to her interests in both economics and environment.