EPA Economic Modeling

Organization

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA-OAR-

7/17/2026 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone

A research training opportunity is available at the EPA Office of Clean Air Programs (OCAP) within the Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation, located at EPA Headquarters in Washington, DC, and in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.

OCAP develops national policies, regulations, and guidelines for ambient air quality standards and air pollution emissions standards. OCAP implements national and international programs for restoring the stratospheric ozone layer, phasing down hydrofluorocarbons, and meeting international treaty obligations.

A group of about 10 graduate‑trained economists and analysts, OCAP’s Economic Modeling Branch (EMB) performs and supports benefit‑cost analysis of air pollution programs and other policy analyses under the Clean Air Act and the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act. EMB develops methodology, models, and applied tools for economic analysis and collaborates with other economists within the Agency and at national laboratories.

Research Project:
Priority areas include the US energy sector, major industrial sectors, and phasing down hydrofluorocarbons. Possible projects:

• Develop and document generic partial‑equilibrium models that simulate the economic impact of stylized environmental regulations on affected and related industries.
• Contribute to the continued development of a dynamic partial‑equilibrium model that simulates the impact of stylized environmental regulations on domestic and international oil and natural‑gas supply and demand decisions, regulatory costs, and emissions trajectories.
• Enhance existing models, tools, and methods such as computable general equilibrium models, power‑sector capacity‑expansion models, multi‑sector energy system models, and linked models.
• Develop datasets and identification strategies to estimate supply, demand, and trade substitution elasticities from publicly available data.
• Incorporate criteria air‑pollutant productivity impacts into a forestry and agriculture partial‑equilibrium model and accompanying scenario development.

The research project requires collaboration with Agency economists on study design, data collection, economic modeling, and analysis.

During the ORISE fellowship, the participant will learn to apply economic theory to environmental problems and advance quantitative skills using GAMS and open‑source programming packages.

David Bielen (bielen.david)

August 1, 2026

The appointment will initially be for one year and may be renewed up to three or four additional years subject to EPA recommendation and funding availability.

Full time

Annual stipend range: $52,693 – $77,983

U.S. citizen only

Successful background investigation by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) required.

Participants do not become employees of EPA, DOE, or the program administrator. Proof of health insurance is required and can be obtained through ORISE.

Applicant should be currently pursuing or have received a master’s or doctoral degree in economics, operations research, applied or computational mathematics, or data science within the past five years or anticipated by 8/1/2026.

• Interest and technical skills in energy, environmental, or natural resource economics and policy.
• Proficiency with quantitative methods in microeconomics, optimization, and econometrics.

• Citizenship: U.S. citizen only
• Degree:
  Master’s or Doctoral degree received within last 60 months or anticipated by 8/1/2026
• Discipline(s):
  Computer, Information, and Data Sciences;
  Environmental and Marine Sciences;
  Mathematics and Statistics;
  Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Veteran Status:
  Veterans preference for degrees received within last 120 months.