Michael Greenstone is co-chair of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)'s environment, energy and climate change sector and a scientific advisor to J-PAL's Air and Water Labs in India Solutions and Advancements through Research for Water and Air (SARWA). He is the Milton Friedman Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and was previously the 3M Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
His research focuses on estimating the costs and benefits of environmental quality. He is currently researching the economic and health impacts of indoor air pollution, climate change, air pollution and clean water in developing countries. Michael served as the chief economist for President Obama’s council of economic advisors in the first year of his administration. He also served as an editor of The Review of Economics and Statistics and as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's science advisory board’s environmental economics advisory committee. In 2004, he received the 12th Annual Kenneth Arrow Award for best paper in the field of health economics.