Madhavi Venkatesan
Madhavi Venkatesan is an American economist and environmental activist. She is an associate teaching professor of economics at Northeastern University.
Madhavi Venkatesan | |
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![]() Venkatesan at a UN Climate Change Conference (COP23) in 2017 | |
Academic background | |
Education | Vanderbilt University (BS, MS, PhD) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Economics |
Institutions | Northeastern University Bridgewater State University |
Main interests | Sustainability |
Biography
Venkatesan received her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Economics from Vanderbilt University.[1] She then held senior level positions in investor relations for three Fortune 250 companies in the insurance sector.[1] In 2014, she re-entered academic employment as an assistant professor of Economics at Bridgewater State University[1] and in 2017, she joined the faculty of the Department of Economics at Northeastern University as an assistant teaching professor.[2]
Venkatesan traveled to the Philippines in 2018 as the Fulbright-SyCip Distinguished Lecturer.[3] In 2019 she published her fourth text, SDG8 - Sustainable Economic Growth and Decent Work for All.[4]
As of April 2021, Venkatesan serves as the editor in chief of Sustainability and Climate Change.[5]
Research
Venkatesan's academic interests include the integration of sustainability into the economics curriculum.[6] [7] She has been active in promoting education and stakeholder engagement to incorporate ethics into the existing economic framework[8][9] and her written work has largely focused on these topics as a catalyst to promoting sustainability. Venkatesan has also contributed to the literature on the relationship between culture, sustainability and economics, addressing the relationship between economic systems and cultural convergence.[10] [11] She is an advocate for changing the quantitative focus of present economic goals (e.g., GDP, income) to qualitative attributes of well-being that acknowledge and incorporate the interconnectivity, known and unknown, in human decision-making. [12]
Sustainable Practices
In 2016, Venkatesan established Sustainable Practices,[13] [14] a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission "to facilitate a culture of sustainability as defined by reducing the human-made impact to the planet and its ecosystems" within Barnstable County, Massachusetts, and serves as the organization's executive director.[15] In 2019, Sustainable Practices initiated the Municipal Plastic Bottle Ban campaign. The organization followed with the Commercial Single-use Plastic Water Bottle Ban in 2020.[16] In 2023, Sustainable Practices initiated an additional campaign, Plastic Reduction. The initiative specifically targets and eliminates the retail use of single-use takeout plastic. [17][18] The Municipal Plastic Bottle Ban has been in effect in all 15 Cape Cod towns since 2021, the Commercial Single-use Plastic Water Bottle Ban and Plastic Reduction remain as ongoing campaigns. [19][20]
References
- "Dr. Madhavi Venkatesan". Bridgewater State University. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- "Madhavi Venkatesan". Northeastern University.
- "Economics Professor Earns Fulbright". Bridgewater State University.
- "SDG8 – Sustainable Economic Growth and Decent Work for All". Northeastern University.
- "Dr. Madhavi Venkatesan named Editor in Chief". Northeastern University.
- "What's the real cost of a bottle of soda (and everything else)?". Northeastern University.
- "Dr. Madhavi Venkatesan to present on economics and sustainability". Northeastern University.
- "On the Value of Work with Dr. Madhavi Venkatesan". Northeastern University.
- Winters, Joseph. "The selective accounting behind the plastic industry's climate-friendly claims". Grist.
- "Jennie C. Stephens Highlights Intersectionality Within the Climate Crisis". Northeastern University.
- "SDG8 – Sustainable Economic Growth and Decent Work for All". Northeastern University.
- Nguyen, Janet. "Is a growing middle class the real key to economic growth?". Marketplace.
- Koch, Michelle. "Sustainable Practices". edible Cape Cod.
- "Madhavi Venkatesan MELP '16". Vermont Law School Loquitur.
- Legere, Christine. "Cape activists turn attention to water bottle sales". Cape Cod Times.
- Fraser, Doug. "'People want to make an impact': Organization wins municipal bottle bans in every Cape Cod town". Cape Cod Times.
- Abel, David. "'A decade after Concord's landmark ban on bottled water, plastic pollution remains a scourge". Boston Globe.
- Annonen, Noelle. "Student Asks Town Meeting To Ban More Plastic". Falmouth Enterprise.
- Hill, Jessica. "'Greener alternative': Cape businesses support plastic water bottle ban, seek substitutes". Cape Cod Times.
- Wood, Tim. "Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles Disappear From Shelves". Cape Cod Chronicle.