The Luskin Center for Innovation is pleased to announce Jelena Jezdimirovic as our newest postdoctoral researcher.  Funded by the National Science Foundation and based at UC Davis, Jelena is working with Alvar Escriva Bou, Megan Mullin, and others to examine managed aquifer recharge (MAR) in California. She is focused on understanding how political, economic, and institutional factors enable or hinder project development and cross-agency investment partnerships.

Jelena‘s broader research draws on environmental economics, water policy, and data science to investigate how societies adapt to water scarcity and manage groundwater under climate change. She uses large-scale empirical data and natural language processing to analyze participation and decision-making in California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. 

She holds a Ph.D. in Hydrologic Sciences and an M.S. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis, as well as a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College. 

Read more about her below!

1. How did you first get interested in water policy?

In some ways, I stumbled into California water policy almost by accident. Fresh out of college, I took my first job with the Public Policy Institute of California. My very first task was to summarize Temporary Urgency Change Petitions submitted to the State Water Board during the 2014-2016 drought. If you are confused about what those are, so was I! The complexity of California’s water system was certainly a source of imposter syndrome for me, but it also opened up a new universe of problems to explore and puzzles to solve. Ultimately, what hooked me was that sense of discovery that pulled me into a policy area that touches every community and ecosystem in the state.

2. What drew you to UCLA and the Luskin Center for Innovation?

The Center’s research hits the sweet spot between academic rigor and applied, interdisciplinary work. For me, this is ideal–I get to do research that makes a tangible impact on how we manage water, build resilience, and design better institutions.

3. What types of research do you most enjoy?

I am most excited to work on research that has real, on-the-ground impact for California’s water security. I love creating and analyzing large datasets, especially when they reveal insights we didn’t have before.

4. What are a few things people should know about you?

Professionally, I am very passionate about data visualization and graphic design. I think a good chart goes a long way in explaining complex ideas clearly and intuitively.

5. Why is environmental policy important to you?

Environmental policy is how society negotiates and manages our collective exposure to environmental risks. It allows us to decide, together, what harms we are willing to tolerate and which ones we must prevent.

6. What do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time, I like to do anything that gets me away from a computer screen. Lately, that means walking around my neighborhood with my dog Rosie, cooking elaborate New York Times recipes, and working on small woodworking projects.

Learn more.