At the Department of Resource Economics, we tackle complex questions about how to use our environmental, natural and human resources. By researching important societal problems and gathering and analyzing data, we offer policy solutions that move the needle on today’s most pressing issues. Our undergraduate and graduate programs focus on industrial organization, environmental economics, natural resource economics and health economics. And our award-winning faculty produces groundbreaking research that impacts how we approach our world.
The Department of Resource Economics is pleased to release our 2022 annual newsletter. Click on the image to learn more about what's new in the department, including our growth - we are now home to almost 400 undergraduate majors!
Interested in learning more about our programs? Take the first step: Connect with us now!
The department of Resource Economics is pleased to present the Spring 2023 seminar series. All seminars will be available in person in Stockbridge 303 unless stated otherwise below.
Friday, March 3, 10:30am -12:00pm | Laura Gee
Department of Economics, Tufts University
Specialty: Applied Microeconomics, Behavioral/Experimental Economics
Title: TBA
Friday, April 14, 10:30am - 12:00pm | Jane Kolodinsky
Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont
Specialty: Food Systems Policy
Title: TBA
Friday, April 21, 10:30am -12:00pm | Michael Darden
Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University
Specialty: Health Economics and Health Econometrics
Title: TBA
Friday, May 5, 10:30am-12:00pm | Pun Winichakul
Department of Economics, Smith College
Specialty: Public and Behavioral Economics
Title: TBA
Friday, May 12, 10:30am-12:00pm | Rich Sweeney
Department of Economics, Boston College
Specialty: Environmental & Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Industrial Organization, Applied Microeconomics
Title: TBA
Thursday, May 18, 10:30am - 12:00pm | Ethan Ligon
Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley
Specialty: Applied Microeconomics
Title: TBA
As high temperatures become more frequent and intense due to climate change, UMass Amherst scientists are developing interdisciplinary research aimed at helping communities increase resilience to extreme heat by monitoring physiological, mental and behavioral health factors.
Tauhidur Rahman, assistant professor of computer and information sciences, and social scientist Jamie Mullins, assistant professor of resource economics,received a $75,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation’s Smart and Connected Communities program to fund their project.
Resource Economics associate professor Christine L. Crago is co-PI on two grants totaling $6.3 million from the National Science Foundation. The grants will fund a new graduate training program, ELevating Equity VAlues in the Transition of the Energy System (ELEVATE) which aims to ensure that the transformation of the electric grid is both sustainable and benefits all members of society equitably, an aspect of energy transition not often considered in policymaking or public discourse. “I’m really excited to be looking at equity and distributional impacts of the renewable energy transition,” says Dr. Crago. “As we promote an energy system dominated by renewable energy, we want to carefully consider the impact of more renewables on energy prices and control of energy assets, and their subsequent impacts on equity.”