Santiago Saavedra

Associate Professor, Universidad del Rosario

Santiago is Associate Professor and MPP Director at the School of Economics, of Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá, Colombia. He has a PhD in Economics from Stanford University. His research focus on the fields of Development and Environmental Economics. For example topics of illegal mining, deforestation, air pollution and eco-tourism. Santiago uses spatial data, satellite imagery and machine learning to answer research questions. He was one of the winners of the Google Artificial Intelligence Impact Challenge 2019.

Recent work by Santiago Saavedra

Closing loopholes can dramatically improve financial incentives for conservation

Paying landowners to conserve their forested land is a leading approach to prevent deforestation. Evidence from Mexico shows that smarter contract design can more than quadruple cost-effectiveness.

Energy & Environment

Santiago Izquierdo-Tort Seema Jayachandran Santiago Saavedra

Published 22.01.25

Using monitoring technologies to protect the environment: Evidence from Colombia

Governments can use satellites and machine learning technology to reduce illegal activity

Energy & Environment

Santiago Saavedra

Published 28.02.23

Santiago Saavedra

Recent work by Santiago Saavedra

Closing loopholes can dramatically improve financial incentives for conservation

Using monitoring technologies to protect the environment: Evidence from Colombia