Qais Ayasa holds an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics and a BA in Economics and Finance from Bard College / Al-Quds Bard College, and brings a strong quantitative and mixed-methods background built across economic policy research, monitoring and evaluation, and development programming in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. His experience spans roles with Oxfam Novib, the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), and Taawon, working on economic justice, rural development, and environmental programmes in fragile and crisis-affected settings.
His doctoral research at the SAGE Centre, based with the Agricultural Development and Trade Group at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin applies computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling to assess the economy-wide costs of land degradation in the West Bank. Building a SEEA-consistent Social Accounting Matrix and a single-country CGE model, he aims to quantify the cost of cropland and rangeland degradation, disentangle its climate-, access-, and tenure-driven components, and evaluate which sustainable land-management responses offer the greatest return.