Pratyush Seshadri, from Cary, North Carolina, is a Morehead Cain Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Economics and Mathematics with a minor in History. Pratyush is passionate about using economic mechanisms to mitigate the effects of climate change, and has worked as a Smart Surfaces Scholar to drive investment into climate-resilient infrastructure, collaborating with stakeholders like the United Nations, the City of London, and the United States National League of Cities. He has also worked in Johannesburg, Nairobi, and New York City, in fields ranging from climate infrastructure oriented private equity to macroeconomic research on unemployment. On campus, Pratyush is a researcher at the Digital Health Economics and Policy lab at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, with several research publications exploring issues at the nexus of health economics and technology to develop novel solutions. He is also the co-founder of Visibility Forward, which seeks to promote the development of Asian American history curricula, and for his work in advocacy for Asian Americans, Pratyush was named a Robert E. Bryan Fellow, a Clinton Global Initiative Fellow, and a Projects for Peace Foundation Winner. Currently a director on the Morehead Cain Scholarship fund board, Pratyush has previously served on the board of directors for his university’s student publication, The Daily Tar Heel , as well as on the executive board for the Parr Center for Ethics. Passionate about stand-up comedy, Pratyush is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of The Oh Well , UNC’s premier satire publication. He is also a member of UNC’s Men’s Varsity Squash team, and as a visiting student, played for the University of Oxford’s Men’s Varsity Soccer and Basketball Team.

Pratyush will pursue an MPhil in Economics at the University of Oxford as part of a larger mission to develop climate resilience globally.