[4] Her interest shifted from biology to public policy after researching insect-plant interactions in the Costa Rican rain forest.

[6] and she uses quantitative methods to study the impact of policy, transparency and accountability and the actions of individuals, companies, cities and countries.

[11][12] Hsu develops metrics and programs that aggregate "third wave data" and uses it to measure and monitor progress towards reducing carbon emissions.

[16] Hsu was also a lead author of the fifth chapter on the role of non-state and sub-national actors in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Emissions Gap Report of 2018.

[17] In 2022, she said the geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and China made cooperation between the two countries on global issues like climate change all the more important.