Peter Richards

I lead a technical and policy portfolio on biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), land use change and environmental markets in support of low-carbon, crop-based fuel production. My work includes building and coordinating cross-sector partnerships with EPA, DOE, FAA, Treasury, industry, and research institutions to strengthen analysis and policies that guide U.S. and international biofuel policies; developing and managing research cooperatives with academic, government, and nonprofit partners that expand USDA analytical capacity and support policy development; serving as OCE’s subject-matter expert on land-use change, biofuel market dynamics, and Brazilian agriculture and trade; and producing quantitative and policy analysis that informs departmental positions on low-carbon fuels and international sustainability standards. I also oversee analytical workplans and cross-agency research coordination to ensure consistency, transparency, and evaluability in emerging biofuel and land-use policy.

I served as Senior Economist in a newly established, top-of-agency policy office with responsibility for leading initiatives on emerging global priorities. Over fourteen months, I initiated or supported major workstreams on multilateral development bank reform; FY2024 climate priorities including GHG monitoring and debt-for-nature swaps; artificial intelligence and development; economic security and trade diversification; and the regionalization of medical countermeasure supply chains. My role required building consensus across multiple bureaus and agencies on highly technical and emerging economic policy issues. I worked directly with senior USAID leadership to shape whole-of-agency approaches to “market shaping for development” and built new collaborations across USAID and with the Departments of State, Treasury, HHS, and EPA. I led development of the first EPA–USAID agreement to strengthen methane monitoring, mobilize climate resilience finance, address critical mineral monopolies, and expand engagement in the Pacific Islands. I also represented USAID on the White House Steering Committee on Greenhouse Gas Measurement, Monitoring, and Information Systems.

As Acting Agency Chief Economist, I was tasked with developing and implementing a comprehensive, forward leaning whole of Agency approach to expanding the use of experimental methods, evidence, and economics across Agency programs and policy making to improve impact and cost effectiveness. As Agency Chief Economist I worked in the Office of the Administrator, where I reported directly to the Agency Chief of Staff. I proposed, planned and executed major initiatives to transform the role of economics at USAID. First, I designed and developed USAID’s first ever Office of the Chief Economist (OCE), with direct report to the USAID Administrator. I guided an office reorganization process and congressional notification requirements, recruited staff, secured a budget, contracted support, and wrote position descriptions. I identified, recruited and on-boarded the Agency’s first Agency Chief Economist (ACE), grew a team from zero to ten staff over eight months, and pioneered the use of Intergovernmental Personnel Agreements (IPA) for recruiting accomplished technical staff into high ranking and influential technical roles on academic rotation. Today, OCE a leading office in AID, with more than 30 staff economists, and has informed more than 1billion in programs design. Second, I contributed the core ideas that would underly a revised approval process for very large (>100m) grants, removing much of the existing bureaucracy of previous approval and clearances and replacing it with a USAID version of DARPA’s Heilmieir Catechism and additional questions on evidence use. Third, I provided institutional leadership to and on behalf of Agency economists, work which included organizing engagement between USAID economists and the USAID Administrator; and advising on USAID’s response to economic challenges and crises, from the economic impacts of the Ukraine War, to the food and fertilizer price spike of 2022, to the rise in developing country debt.

Managed and coordinated high-level economic policy and engagement activities across multiple agencies. Supported efforts to expand the use and generation of evidence across USAID programs. Proposed and developed new workstreams for expanding the use of experimental and iterative approaches to programs within USAID. Initiated new efforts to incorporate experimental methods and learning directly into USAID programming initiatives. Led agency-wide conversations on progress in development economics, data science, and the use of new analytical and observational tools and datasets for policymaking. Contributed to agency-wide agenda and policy on economic growth, and developed strategic partnerships across the US Government, academia and international organizations.

Developed and managed innovative research programs that used observational and analytical tools, such as satellite data and convolutional neural networks, to identify the impact of sustainable landscapes and agricultural development programs. Led innovative research and program development related to agricultural trade and innovation. Served as a liaison between USAID and other US government agencies, including USDA, DARPA, NASA, ARPA-E, and MCC on research and development projects.

Designed and developed a popular upper-level course to engage students on sustainable food systems. Engaged students with the drivers and impacts of changing food systems and in the role of technological, policy and market changes in driving the evolution of land use and agricultural systems.

Developed and implemented multiple research grants to carry out innovative, data-driven research on agricultural and land use change in key areas of Latin America. Research findings were featured in popular press and international media, and contributed to policy changes and dialogue in Brazil and the European Commission. Managed an international research team, served as an unofficial mentor to graduate students, and published project results in top-tier academic journals and popular media outlets. Led paradigm-shifting research on land use change. Developed expertise on the trade-offs between agricultural change, economic growth, and forest cover.