Emily Pakhtigian is an environmental and development economist whose research examines human-environmental interactions. Her research interests include environmental health, water and sanitation, air pollution, human capital accumulation, and water resource management. Pakhtigian’s recent research includes work to understand the processes by which households adopt and use environmental health technologies, the health and educational consequences of ambient air pollution exposure, and the economic implications of water resource management.

Pakhtigian holds a Ph.D. in public policy, with a concentration in economics, from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. She has an M.A. in economics from Duke University and B.A.s in economics and political science from Moravian College.