John Downes joined the Evans School PhD program in Public Policy and Management in Autumn 2023. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies he worked as a Research Associate in the International Development Division of the American Institutes for Research, assisting on a diverse portfolio of projects and proposals on topics including early childhood development, gender equity, the evaluation of school feeding programs, and early childhood literacy in developing countries. After finishing his Master’s degree he completed multiple consulting engagements in both research and operations for the World Bank, in the Climate Change Group as well as both the Agriculture and Food and Social Protection and Jobs Global Practices. From 2016-2018 he served as an Environmental Action Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, working primarily on projects related to environmental sustainability and food security with a cooperative of farmers. His research interests center around the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change in vulnerable contexts, food security, social protection, and poverty alleviation. These research interests are informed by his time working on the ground with smallholder farmers in West Africa and with grassroots community organizations in the city of Detroit.