PhD student Mauricio León: Balancing a PhD and a Career
When Mauricio León feels he needs to further his education, he chooses the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
In 2017, he graduated from the Humphrey School with a Master of Science in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy (STEP). Throughout the program, he says he felt supported and the degree helped boost his career.
But as he moved through his career, he had a growing list of questions about environmental policy that he wasn’t done exploring. So when he had the idea to pursue a PhD a few years later, he knew exactly where he wanted to go.
“My first thought was to apply to the Humphrey School,” León says. “I had a great experience back then. I love Minnesota. I love the University. It’s always a really great and supportive community.”
That instinct brought him back in 2022, this time as a doctoral student in the Public Affairs PhD program. Now in his fourth year, León is balancing full-time work at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency with dissertation research that examines how agencies determine economic feasibility in climate policy.
It has been a demanding few years, but one he says the Humphrey School is uniquely equipped to support.
“It was a pretty unique thing to continue to be working and also getting my PhD,” he says. “Not all PhD programs lend themselves to that. But the public affairs program benefits from incorporating people who already have some professional experience or are in the middle of their career.”
“I was looking for programs that would bridge the science background but also had this policy aspect,” he says. The STEP program stood out for its multidisciplinary approach and its emphasis on climate change, energy and environmental policy. “It was like a jackpot for me.”
After graduating, León landed a job at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, where he serves as an economic policy analyst and supports regulatory and climate-related initiatives through economic analysis.
His work ranges from cost-benefit analysis for proposed water quality standards to helping standardize economic review processes across state agencies as Minnesota updates its climate action framework.
The technical nature of the work requires both analytical rigor and the ability to communicate clearly with non-technical audiences — skills he says have been strengthened at the Humphrey School.
Balancing a full-time job with doctoral research has required discipline and careful time management, León says.
But the overlap between his academic and professional work makes the balance possible.
“One of my strengths is that I have always tried to bridge my academic side with my professional side,” he says. “What I’m learning at the Humphrey, I’m directly applying to my work.”
Research looking inside public institutions
León’s dissertation explores how agencies determine what is economically feasible when implementing climate policy, work that includes economics, politics and public values.
“I got really interested in how we determine economic feasibility within agencies,” he says. “It is a whole process of negotiation between the people that work on these agencies, the leadership, and the public.”
Through interviews, field observations, and document analysis, he is studying how decisions about climate action take shape inside public institutions.
“For more effective policy implementation, we really need to understand the insights and how the process works inside these organizations,” he says. “If the state wants to conduct actions on climate change, how does that actually look on the ground?”
As he moves deeper into his dissertation, León is also exploring what comes next. Teaching has become a meaningful part of his PhD experience. He has co-taught a sustainability course for undergraduates for the past two spring semesters.
“I always dreamed of teaching,” he says. “I’m already kind of living the dream in some ways.”
But he also sees potential for leadership roles in state government, where his research and experience could help shape climate and environmental policy.
“This whole area that I’m studying really deals with leadership and how we run effective policy,” he says. “I don’t discard later on going for more leadership roles within the state.”
For now, he’s focused on finishing his dissertation, continuing his work at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and contributing to the state he has come to love.
“As long as I’m doing research and teaching, I’m a happy person,” he says. “And I really like this state, so if there’s an opportunity for me to continue to stay here, I would love that.”