Nicola McPherson is a first-year MPP student at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs. Originally from Canberra, Australia, she brings nearly a decade of experience in the Australian Public Service. At Jackson, Nicola is focused on exploring the evolving role of leaders in public institutions and economic incentives for action on climate change. 

Prior to Yale, Nicola served as a climate change policy adviser in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. In this role, she supported cross-government coordination of Australia’s climate change policies. Previously, as an assistant director at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Nicola was a lead analyst on emissions from Australia’s energy sector and the project manager for national emissions reports to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. She has also represented Australia at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change during its Six Assessment Report cycle.

Nicola holds bachelor’s degrees from the Australian National University, where she majored in renewable energy systems and natural resource management.