Longjiao Yu
Comparative Environmental Politics · Climate Adaptation · Governance under Shocks
I am a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. My research sits at the intersection of comparative environmental politics, the political economy of energy transitions, and how governments and communities respond to climate-driven shocks — wildfires, floods, and droughts. I use causal inference, spatial analysis, and remote sensing, complemented by fieldwork.
I am currently developing a research agenda on community-driven development and government adaptation to climate-related disasters in Southeast Asia, informed by fieldwork in the Philippines.
- Department of Political Science, UC Santa Barbara
- Email: longjiao_yu@ucsb.edu
- Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
Selected Recent Work
- Southeast Asia · Fieldwork Community-Driven Development and Government Adaptation in Disaster.
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Political Mobilization of Clustered Interests: Evidence from the Residential Solar Revolution
Shows that geographic clustering enables otherwise diffuse interests to overcome collective-action barriers: counties with exogenously higher solar potential saw substantially greater growth in environmental NGOs after the rise of affordable rooftop solar.
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Deforestation as a Strategy of Authoritarian Survival: Evidence from Myanmar
Studies the ecological consequences of Myanmar's 2021 military coup, showing through a difference-in-differences design with georeferenced data on teak suitability, state extractive infrastructure, and access to international markets that the restored junta sharply accelerated deforestation in commercially valuable, accessible forests.