Evaluating an Environmentally Conscious Investment Strategy
Meet environmental studies–economics major Tina Bardot.
Hometown: Antwerp? Renton? Miramar? (I am NOT from Florida.) I would broadly identify as a Pacific Northwesterner.
Thesis adviser: Prof. Noelwah Netusil [economics]
Thesis: “ESG Beyond Investing: Cross-Stakeholder Spillover of Sustainability Communication”
What it’s about: Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) has gained attention as a new investment strategy that engages companies to quantify and improve their operations. Though this framework has mostly been seen as investor-focused quantification and certification, I’m trying to see to what extent the kind of information that is investor relevant is also becoming consumer and employee relevant, as the way that ESG information is regulated is likely to ultimately affect more than just investors.
What it’s really about: People care more about the environmental and social impacts of business, like carbon emissions and fair wages. I’m trying to see how a company communicates this information to different types of people to better understand how we can make sure this information is truthful and consistent.
In high school: I was an odd duck with big dreams.
Influential professor: Prof. Noelwah Netusil [economics], my adviser, pushed me to pursue my passions at ºìÌÒÊÓƵ and contributed significantly to expanding the scope of possibilities for me beyond ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. She not only teaches the classes most directly related to my major but has also been a mentor and (in many ways) a friend.
Influential book: Tout le Bleu du Ciel, a French novel that contemplates love and loss. Filled with nostalgia while constantly tugging at you to be mindful of the present, it is full of contradictions that make you question your own relationship with the past. Also, a necessary break from the endless econ papers I had to read for thesis!
Cool stuff: Cochair of Restorative Justice Coalition, student teaching consultant, tutor for Felipe Carrera’s econometrics class. I also started rock climbing! One of my roommates and I have been going three times a week since the summer before my junior year, and it has been a unique and wonderful opportunity to foster one of my most cherished friendships.
How ºìÌÒÊÓƵ changed me: Being at ºìÌÒÊÓƵ has fundamentally changed how I think about relationships. I have fostered friendships with all kinds of people, which has completely changed my perception about the ways mutual support can look and feel. No one gets anywhere on their own, and thinking about the people who helped me get where I am today reminds me that I can have that impact on other people, too.
Help received along the way: I received a financial award my freshman year that helped tip the scale for choosing ºìÌÒÊÓƵ over another college.
Awards, fellowships, grants: Awards from the Climate Change Research and Education Fund and the Social Justice Research and Education Fund.
What’s next: Something that helps the planet and the people on it, whatever that looks like. Something that I can have an impact in, and that will keep me moving forward, even if not in a straight line.