Assistant Professor Christoph Semken began his appointment at the Department of Economics on 1 July 2025. Professor Semken’s research at the intersection of environmental, behavioural and applied economics has already taken him to the He earned his PhD at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona in 2024.
Semken was attracted to the University of Toronto by its strong and diverse academic community.
“The Department of Economics is particularly exciting to me for its breadth across fields, which aligns well with my research that uses methods from applied microeconomics, behavioral economics, industrial organization, theory, and Bayesian statistics,” Professor Semken said. “I was also drawn by the department’s growing focus on climate economics and its potential to become a global leader in this area. UofT offers rich opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, including with climate scientists.”
Scheduled to teach Environmental Economics and Policies, the undergraduate course ECO313, and ECO2950, Environmental Economics at the graduate level, students in both courses will learn within the context of immediate environmental issues using a variety of methods and tools.
“In my classes, I try to emphasize clarity, conceptual understanding, and real-world relevance,” Semken said. “I encourage students to think independently, question assumptions, and engage critically with economic models. In my courses, we will examine how economic tools can help address environmental challenges such as climate change, pollution, resource use, and biodiversity loss. The courses will cover topics such as externalities and public goods, policy instruments like taxes and cap-and-trade, methods for valuing environmental damages, and behavioral responses by consumers and firms. Students can expect a mix of theory, empirical evidence, and policy applications throughout.”
Semken’s approach to teaching helps to encourage his students to develop both the best of the academic traditions he has encountered, and the new methods emerging to address current realities.
“Throughout my own education, I came to value a set of qualities that I hope to foster in my students: curiosity about the real world, intellectual rigor with a sense of purpose, and an openness to interdisciplinary thinking,” he explained. “Environmental economics demands that we integrate insights not only from economics but also from physical and behavioral sciences, ethics, and policy. I aim to help students appreciate the complexity of environmental challenges, the trade-offs involved in addressing them, and the importance of evidence-based reasoning.”
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