Joana is an interdisciplinary professional and current PhD researcher at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS). She holds an MA in Development Studies from IDS and a BSc in Industrial Engineering with a specialisation in Economics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For her PhD, Joana is focusing on the regulatory discussions and tax incentives employed in Brazil to foster the expansion of its small-scale solar photovoltaic (PVS) market. Her work is particularly concerned with the policy inclusivity and the timing of regulatory changes introduced in Brazil in 2022 that reduced previous incentives while the PVS energy market was still in its early stages relative to those of other countries.

During her master’s, Joana conducted research to evaluate whether Brazil’s market-oriented or developmentalist industrial policies supported more effective structural change over the past two decades. She found evidence suggesting that structural change significantly improved with sector-specific policies but faced challenges such as coordination issues, poor policy design, institutional capacity constraints, and unfavorable macroeconomic conditions. During her undergraduate studies, she worked on a solar energy project for a public school in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro, gaining insights from the community about their concerns regarding solar energy adoption. She also brings four years of professional experience managing energy distribution and overseeing projects at a newly established renewable energy firm in Brazil.

Joana is a Postgraduate Researcher being supervised by Seife Ayele and Marco Carreras.