2026 National Tax Association Climate Tax Fellowship

The NTA Climate Tax Fellowship provides conference travel funding for graduate students and early career MAs/PhDs/JDs whose research and professional interests lie at the intersection of tax and climate policy. The fellowship provides NTA membership and supports travel to and at the 119th NTA Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from November 12-14, 2026.

2026 National Tax Association Climate Tax Fellows

Alea Wilbur recently completed her PhD in Public Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago. Her dissertation examined how flood-risk information affects residential property values in Cook County, Illinois, using administrative, geospatial, and property-sales data. She has also worked with the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the UIC Government Finance Research Center, developing reproducible data workflows and conducting research on Illinois state finances and the Cook County, IL property tax system. Her broader interests include taxation, climate risk, state and local government finance, and applied data analysis.
 

Dasom Ham is a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of Michigan. Her interests lie in environmental/energy economics, public finance, and labor. Currently, she is analyzing the effects of a US Forest Service National Environmental Policy Act reform, combining reduced-form methods with a model to study the efficiency-equity trade-offs. With co-authors, she is studying the effects of a Supreme Court tax ruling and has published in PNAS on incentives in blocking transmission lines. Previously, she worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and earned a BS in Economics from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities.

 

 

Julia Colen is a J.D. Candidate at New York University School of Law. Her research interests lie at the intersection of international law, tax policy, and climate change, with a particular interest in international tax cooperation and climate finance. This summer, she researched the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation as an intern with Just Atonement Inc. Before law school, she was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan. She holds a B.A. in International Studies and Political Science.

 

 

Mikaela Rose Tajo is a Climate Policy Analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Her current work is focused on helping craft equitable and durable climate tax policy both at the state and federal levels with national climate and tax partners.

Before coming to the Center, Mikaela worked at the Urban Institute as a Research Analyst focused on homelessness, racial equity, and community-engaged and participatory research methods. Mikaela received her bachelor’s in political science and her master’s in legislative affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

 

Scott Overbey is a joint JD/MPP student at NYU School of Law and Harvard Kennedy School of Government whose focus is on tax law and budget policy, with a particular interest in international tax rules and climate change. Scott worked at the Joint Committee on Taxation in summer 2026, and he will be joining Skadden as a Tax Associate after graduating in 2027. In addition to tax, Scott enjoys cooking, running triathlons, and playing backgammon.

  •