Sonia Hassan

Sonia Hassan, a Visiting Researcher at the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS), is a PhD Researcher in Finance and a Senior Lecturer with over 15 years of experience in teaching, research, and academic leadership in Finance, Accounting, and Energy Finance at the University of Southern Punjab. Her research focuses on energy economics, energy poverty, sustainable finance, and the broader relationship between energy, environmental, and economic challenges.

Hassan’s current research interests centre primarily on energy poverty and the factors that shape energy access and well-being across economies. She is particularly interested in understanding how economic and energy policy uncertainty, financial variability, tourism development, wealth, and environmental conditions influence energy poverty and sustainability outcomes. Her research also explores the intersection of energy finance and sustainable development, with an emphasis on the complex interactions between economic development, environmental variability, and energy systems.

Sonia’s doctoral research examines the impact of wealth of nations, tourism development, environmental and financial variability on energy poverty, with particular attention to the moderating role of economic and energy policy uncertainty. Her broader research agenda includes energy economics, energy finance, sustainable finance, environmental and climate economics, tourism and sustainability, and development economics.

Sonia has published peer-reviewed research in areas including energy poverty, policy uncertainty, climate and environmental variability, green fiscal policy, sustainable finance, and banking. Her recent publication in Energy Policy examines the relationship between energy poverty and wealth under economic and energy policy uncertainty.

Through her research at Boston University, Hassan aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of energy-related challenges and their implications for sustainable and inclusive development, particularly across diverse and developing economies.