Elisa D'Amico

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Climate-Conflict Nexus, International Political Economy, Development, Climate Policy, (Im)migration Policy, Refugee Studies, Civil War & Peacebuilding, Conflict, Research Methodology, Quasi-Experimental Analysis, Geospatial Data, Computational Social Science

PUBLICATIONS

• D’Amico, E. (2025, accepted). Unrest in Urbanity: Unraveling the Impact of Economic Shocks on Migration and Urban Dynamics. Review of International Political Economy.

• D'Amico, E., Melin, M., & Sosa, S. (2025, accepted). No Ex-Combatant Left Behind: Economic Reintegration & the Durability of Peace. Journal of Peace Research.

• Maboudi, T., & D'Amico, E. (2024). Vulnerability, climate laws, and adaptation in the Middle East and North Africa. Environmental Policy and Governance, 35(1), 145–158.

• D’Amico, E. (R&R). Resilient by Design: An Investigation of Climate Adaptation Laws in New England. Nature Climate Action.

• D'Amico, E., & Houghton, K. (forthcoming). Financial Dependencies and Conflict Resolution: The Role of Militarized Mediators in Modern Insurgencies. Civil Wars.

• D'Amico, E. (forthcoming). The National Framework for Peace: Cross-national Instances of Economic Reincorporation in Treaties and their Outcomes. In Melin, M. & Sosa, S. (Eds.), The Missing Peace: Understanding Private Enterprises in Conflict Prevention and Resolution. Oxford University Press.

• Clausen, M., & D'Amico, E. (forthcoming). Reducing Urban Violence: The Case of Chicago. In Melin, M. & Sosa, S. (Eds.), The Missing Peace. Oxford University Press.

Under Review

• D’Amico, E. Turbulent Tides: Climate, Migration, Conflict, & the Quest for Economic Stability. Oxford University Press. Second round of Early Career Researcher First Book Prize.

• D’Amico, E. Weathering War: How Environmental Shocks Shape Rebel Strategies and Peace Outcomes. British Journal of Political Science.

• D’Amico, E. A Quasi-Experimental Approach to Sustainable Development Shocks: Hydropower’s Role in Conflict. Global Environmental Politics.

• D’Amico, E., & Maboudi, T. Timing Matters: Analyzing Climate Policies and Adaptive Resilience. Climate Policy.

• Maboudi, T., & D’Amico, E. Life, Liberty, and Litigation: The Impact of Environmental Laws and Constitutional Rights on Climate Change Litigation. Climatic Change.

Working Papers

NS = Near Submission

• D’Amico, E. Harnessing Machine Learning and Geospatial Tools for Climate Displacement Measurement. [Grant]

• D’Amico, E. (NS) The Geography of Conflict Mediation: Proximity and Success in Armed Conflict Resolutions.

• D’Amico, E., Glaser, S., & Hendrix, C. (NS) From Ocean Changes to Conflict: Predicting Fishery-Related Militarized Disputes in a Warming World.

• Häfliger, N., & D’Amico, E. From Drought to Dispute in the DRC: Climate’s Role in Resource Wars.

• D’Amico, E., & Nutley, K. Legislating Under Pressure: The Conditional Influence of Environmental Protest on Climate Policy.

• D’Amico, E., & Peter, M. Conflict Management in a Multipolar World: Identifying the Turning Point.

• Houghton, K., & D’Amico, E. Peace and Profits: How Third Parties Militarize and Mediate Conflicts.

• D’Amico, E. The Economic and Human Cost of Climate Shocks: Food Prices and Conflict.

Policy Engagement

• D’Amico, E. (2024). Semi-automated coding for conflict mediation research: Database development. Peace Analytics Series, PeaceRep.

• D'Amico, E. (2024). How Climate Shocks Impact Rebel Demands and Peace Agreement Outcomes. Climate & Natural Resources, PeaceRep.

• D’Amico, E. (2024). Enhancing Conflict Mediation Research: First Steps in the Mediation and Negotiators Database (MEND). CARMA Conference, Valencia.

• D’Amico, E. (2024). Stitching a Sustainable Future. IOM Blog Series: Youth, Migration, Environment, Climate Change, and DRR.

• D’Amico, E. (2023). Montenegro v. Ashcroft Case Summary. Earth Refuge Legal Database.

• D’Amico, E. (2023). Rising Tides and Sudden Surprises: The Two Faces of Climate Displacement. Medium.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

• 2018–2023 – Research Assistant, Loyola University Chicago
  Worked with E. Hansen, K. Camarena, P. Boyle, S. Maxey, T. Maboudi, M. Melin, S. Kang, and J. Kao

• 2023 – Data Scientist, Chicago Public Schools

• 2023 – Quantitative Research Associate, Institute for Racial Justice, Loyola University

• 2017 – Special Interest Groups Data Analyst, Project VoteSmart

• 2016 – Research Analyst, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh

Selected Ad Hoc Projects

• • Created Stata templates for causation and quasi-experimental projects

  • Used Python and QGIS to polygonize and merge spatial data

  • Scraped and coded peace agreement texts using R

  • Queried and merged Chicago crime and census data using R and APIs

  • SQL BigQuery for large conflict datasets

  • Developed interactive infographic of climate disasters and migration

  • Designed complex quizzes in Qualtrics

     

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GRANTS AND AWARDS

• 2025–2030 – Ad Astra Fellow Research Award, University College Dublin (€25,000)

• 2025–2029 – Ad Astra Fully Funded PhD Studentship, University College Dublin (€88,000)

• 2024–2025 – Data Manager on £19M PeaceRep Grant (FCDO, UK)

• 2024 – Political Economy of Climate and Environment (C$400)

• 2024 – Institute for European Global Studies, Universität Basel (₣11,985)

• 2023 – World Wildlife Fund Research Award ($20,000)

• 2023 – ISA Pay It Forward Travel Grant & Mentoring ($500)

• 2023 – ISA Research Workshop Award (Co-award, $2,500)

• 2023 – Box-Steffensmeier ICPSR Methods Scholarship (Full funding)

• 2023 – Loyola Rule of Law Institute Graduate Fellow ($3,500)

• 2023 – Institute of Turkish Studies Language Grant ($3,000)

• 2023 – Iowa State University International Sponsorship ($1,500)

• 2018 – IMISCOE/GAR Doctoral Research Award (Summer School)

• 2017 – Dwight Ink Scholar, Iowa State University ($1,000)