Trajectory

Most of the people in the world are poor, so if we knew the economics of being poor, we would know much of the economics that really matters.

Theodore Schultz, 1979

Once we are liberated from the growth imperative, we will be free to focus on different kinds of innovations – innovations designed to improve human and ecological welfare, rather than innovations designed to speed up the rate of extraction and production.

Jason Hickel, 2020

To serve is to reign.

Lumen Gentium 36

After graduating from Montana State University with a MS in applied economics, I worked as economic analyst of environmental impacts for an engineering firm specialized in water projects like dams and small hydropower plants in Colombia. Shortly after, I joined the PhD program of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University. Today, I am a financial examiner for Washington State’s Department of Ecology and I am one of the researchers monitoring carbon markets to improve their integrity and functionality.

Overall, I have gathered over a decade of research experience applying empirical methods (qualitative and quantitative) along with formal PhD level education in areas of economics, statistics, ecology, climate science, and environmental policy. During my career as a researcher, I have explored the spectrum of topics in climate, environmental, development, and agricultural economics and my research has always been policy oriented.

I have technical expertise in systems modeling, environmental governance, collective impact, sustainable climate risk management, ecosystem services valuation, spatial econometrics techniques, scenario modeling, machine learning, and the microeconomics of land use change. I also know how to use different types of data, including survey data, tabular, data, spatial data, and new funky things like remote-sensing data, hyperspectral data, and drone-collected data. I have also developed expertise in East-African and Latin-American issues related to climate, energy, the environment, and economics. I am fluent in Spanish.

2024-

I work for Washington state’s department of Ecology monitoring WA’s carbon market established by the Climate Commitment Act (CCA).

2021-2023

Prior to my current position, I worked as Sr. researcher/analyst for Earth Economics. While at Earth Economics, I was in charge of research proposals and research framework design for different projects. I gathered, curated, and manipulated data from multiple sources and in multiple formats (e.g., spatial, tabular, survey). I communicated with other researchers, scientists, social science experts, public officials (e.g., school district staff, Public Works staff), project designers (e.g., landscape architects), and project leaders to create a wholistic systems view of our projects. I applied multiple interdisciplinary tools (qualitative and quantitative) for evaluating projects, programs, and policies that seek to advance ecological sustainability, ecological justice, and community resilience agendas. This included designing and conducting surveys and interviews. I lead report writing and preparation of deliverables for our projects. I also helped develop tools and methods to help us replicate our work consistently, cost-effectively, and in a timely manner—particularly in the world of no (or insufficient) specific data. Finally, I sporadically got to coordinate specific projects from time to time–meaning I got to interact directly with clients, scope future projects, develop budgets and be accountable for delivering high quality products on time. I am most proud of my work with the Nez Perce Tribe informing their Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plans.

2020-2021

In this period I worked as an economist for The Natural Infrastructure Initiative, which is part of the Water program at the  World Resources Institute. At the NI initiative, I worked with NGOs, public service providers, and government agencies in forest and watershed resources management, as well as conservation financing, for the improvement of (1) water quality for urban centers, (2) water quantity to support fundamental local ecological functions (including livelihoods) and also sustain ‘renewable‘ productive activities like hydropower generation, (3) water access for irrigation and agriculture (some of it groundwater), and (4) risk management strategies to prevent impacts and damages to generation, transmission, and storage infrastructure that may be caused by flooding, droughts, wildfires, and other climate-related or climate-exacerbated hazards.

I joined the The Natural Infrastructure Initiative within WRI’s water program to provide technical assistance and explore innovative finance mechanism to support and enhance the capacity of decision-makers to formulate nature-based, non-conventional strategies for managing water resources. My work focused on the identification and measurement of effects that Nature-Based Solutions can have on strengthening the resiliency of energy sectors in the Andean region, on reducing disaster risk in public lands in the US, and on enhancing water management strategies to build sustainable cities in Latin America.

I was also involved in the engagement with Colombian cities that are members of the Cities4Forests platform. Here is a link to a WRI blog I wrote where I describe in detail the type of work I support and strengthen.

2018-2020: I joined WRI through The New Climate Economy, a group of researchers, political figures, and communication specialists inspired by the work of Dr. Stern in the LSE and those before him advancing the argument for active climate policy as a means to advance a progressive social agenda and a new paradigm of economic development based on low-carbon sectors. As a researcher in NCE, I dived deep into the science of climate change, the international relations aspects of climate policy, and the technicalities of modeling climate-economy systems. I provided technical support for assisting certain developing countries (Ethiopia and Colombia) design and mainstream into their laws strategies to transition into low-carbon economies. In making the case for climate change action, I focused my research in studying the linkages between climate change, environmental sustainability, and social development.

While in NCE, I also became involved in smaller efforts, which include exploring alternative mechanisms for mobilizing financial resources towards sustainable infrastructure—with a focus on the role of National Development Banks in Latin America—and seeking how to accelerate the gender agenda from within the environmental economics profession doing work in developing countries.

2016-2018: In my PhD dissertation, I compared prescriptive and market-based land use policies aimed at reducing future damages from floods in rapidly growing counties with high natural capital in the Southeastern coast of the US. The project was funded by the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. 

For my PhD project, I integrated spatially explicit micro-econometric models of choice with statistical models of land prices and a simple model of ecosystem services. Using landscape simulations, I studied the potential of alternative land use policies for mitigating flood damages in 3 coastal counties of South Carolina. My simulations can help guide coastal managers, conservation agencies, and other civic groups design smart, cost-effective, and forward looking land use policies that address economic growth, wetland conservation, and flood control. My paper was recently published by EfD. You can find the publication here. Also, a complementary appendix to that manuscript can be found here.

2014-2016: As a graduate student at North Carolina State University, I studied the environmental effects of hydroelectric power plants when I joined a Fish & Wildlife Service project seeking to balance hydroelectric power generation in the Shenandoah River and reductions in eel mortality from their passage through turbines.

As a PhD student, I also completed projects on the adoption of conservation practices among coffee farmers in Puerto Rico and on the effects of congestion in the rail system on wheat prices after an increased demand for transporting oil extracted from North Dakota. In addition, I have done work related to the management of industrial waste from coal power plants in North Carolina, the worldwide economic impacts of research and development of new agricultural technologies, the potential value of genetic diversity within agro-ecosystems, and how to optimally relocate a wildlife refuge in South Carolina. I was also briefly involved in a project to use micro-data on public transport ridership to study the impacts that subsidies on bus fares would have on access and usage among riders from different income classes in Bogotá.

2013: In my work as an analyst of environmental impact in Colombia, I helped draft economic analyses of environmental impacts from the construction of multiple small hydroelectric power plants in diverse geographic regions of the country.

2011-2013: My masters thesis project explored the relationship between participation in food for work programs and adoption of fertilizer among small farmers in rural Ethiopia.

Research Agenda

As an environmental economist (that has a soft spot ecological and heterodox economics), I am interested in using lessons from theory and empirical evidence in environmental economics, ecosystem service valuation, and natural resource management to assess market and policy instruments that deal with environmental externalities (positive and negative)–particularly in the context of rapid urban transitions, growing social inequalities, and increasingly vulnerable environmental resources. My goal is to help turn rigorous, neutral, and thorough research into community-centered action.

My research interests are broad and interdisciplinary in nature. Using lessons from the theory and valuation methodologies used in environmental and development economics, I can help guide policy decisions regarding identification of trade-offs, funding allocation, and incentive design. I can also offer insights on how society develops and transmits environmental value in particular regard of agro-ecosystems and rural development projects. I find important applications for my analytical skills in areas as diverse as land use policy; energy policy, agriculture, environmental sustainability and payment for ecosystem services; circular economy, sustainable production chains and consumer-oriented policies; international aid and development policies; and international trade.

As a social scientist, I would like to study the interactions between social structures and the environment from a pluralistic angle and answer questions regarding the distribution of environmental and health risks. More punctually, I would like to develop expertise in the area of community development and inclusive growth strategies that address the distinct needs of vulnerable populations. Along those lines, I’d be interested in studying the role of legislative uncertainty and compliance to international agreements as barriers to enter markets for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon pricing, markets for wetland mitigation credits, recycling operations, and others).