Jenny Mascarucci: Tracking extreme weather damage

Is there a universal secret formula for the perfect master's thesis? Probably not, but Jenny Mascarucci has certainly found one that works for her. Mascarucci wrote part of her thesis during a stay in Portugal. In the summer of 2024, she spent a month hiking the so-called Fishermen's Trail (Trilho dos Pescadores) along the country’s southwest coast with friends.

“I divided my time in Portugal into work phases and ‘leisure islands’,” recalls the 26-year-old climate economist. “I knew that if I was productive during the day, I could go to the beach in the evening, for example. Or, conversely, I could relax from writing by going hiking.” This approach worked so well that she graduated at the top of her class. She was recently awarded the “2025 Oeschger Young Scientist's Prize” for this achievement.

The master's degree was not part of the plan

At first, pursuing a master's degree was not even on Jenny Mascarucci's agenda. After completing a bachelor's degree in economics at the University of Zurich, she entered professional life as an auditor. Even then, she was particularly interested in how social change and climate change influence economic developments – a focus already present in her bachelor's degree.

However, Jenny soon realized that she lacked the necessary scientific background in climate science. She decided to enrol in a master's degree at the OCCR's Graduate School of Climate Sciences. There, she was able to acquire the basics of meteorology and climatology while specializing in climate economics.

Jenny Mascarucci was particularly impressed by the open, interdisciplinary aspect of studying in Bern, but also by the good compatibility of study and work. While studying part-time, she continued to work as an auditor, commuting between Bern and Lucerne, where she grew up.

Focus on costly hurricanes

For her thesis, Jenny Mascarucci was able to combine her academic knowledge and professional experience in an ideal way. Using US counties, she examined the financial impact of hurricanes. Her work showed that after severe storms, both expenditure – for example, on public safety and reconstruction – and revenue increased significantly. The latter increases mainly due to government aid and the economic upturn resulting from reconstruction.

According to Jenny Mascarucci, the case study of Florida illustrates the complex financial dynamics of disaster recovery – and highlights how important a well-coordinated regional financial policy is when dealing with natural disasters. “In the wake of climate change, extreme weather events and the damage they cause are becoming increasingly frequent worldwide,” she says.

Jenny Mascarucci wrote her thesis in the OCCR's Climate and Environmental Economics group under Joel Hüsler and Eric Strobl. The trio recently submitted the study to a journal for review. Nevertheless, Jenny does not plan to return to research. She is now focusing entirely on her career as a consultant for climate change and sustainability – equipped with the knowledge she gained during her master's studies.