About

I am a Ph.D. candidate in economics at the University of California, San Diego, on the 2026-27 job market. I work in development economics, using field experiments and household panel data to study how rural households make production and consumption decisions under risk. My job market paper applies modern portfolio theory to the crop choices of Malian farmers, showing that cash grants move smallholder crop portfolios toward the efficient frontier: more diversified, less risky per acre, with better risk-adjusted returns.

My CV is available here , and you can reach me at varmenta[at]ucsd.edu.

In my free time I also look at significant stars — through a telescope rather than on my computer screen though. You can find some of my attempts at astrophotography here.

Work Address: 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093