Nicholas Irwin

I am an applied microeconomist by training with an emphasis in environmental economics, urban economics, and real estate. The overarching goal of my research is understanding how individual and household choices affect economic outcomes along two distinct veins. The first explores the decision-making of homeowners and their choice to make housing investments in response to neighborhood spillovers or modify their household resource utilization. The second explores individual responses to information shocks related to environmental hazards or changes in public goods. In this area, my research incorporates novel components of housing market dynamics into traditional hedonic analysis which, if ignored, will lead to a consistent underestimation of the true impact of pollution or changes to amenities. I am also interested in supply-side housing market response to environmental hazards, an oft-ignored topic despite its economic importance.

Derek Kauneckis

Dr. Derek Kauneckis is an affiliated associate research faculty in the Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at the Desert Research Institute and associate professor of environmental studies at Ohio University. His research focuses on regional environmental governance, how people interact with environmental resources, and the emergence of cooperative institutions. He has examined behavioral and institutional components of resilience planning, climate policy networks, and the role of technology in the science/policy interface. His research has been published in the Journal of Coastal Management, Simulation & Gaming, Environmental Management, Studies in Comparative International Development, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, among others. Dr. Kauneckis currently serves as an Advisory Committee Member for the Department of Homeland Security’s Resilient Investment Planning and Development Working Group, and leads the Advisory Group on Professional Education for the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP). Dr. Kauneckis’ research has been sponsored by Fulbright, National Science Foundation (NSF), National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Agriculture (USDA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Dilek Uz

Dr. Dilek Uz is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. She received her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 2016.

Thomas Harris

Dr. Thomas Harris is a Foundation Professor in the Department of Economics in the College of Business, has a research appointment in Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station in the College Agriculture, Biotechnology, and Natural Resources; State Extension Specialists in Community and Economic Development in the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension; and the Director of the University Center for Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Harris has been at UNR since 1981 and his primary areas of teaching, research and extension are rural economic development, economic impact modeling, and local government finance. Dr. Harris’ research covers the economic and fiscal impacts of changes in public land grazing policies and surface water reallocations. Tom was co-editor of a published book titled Targeted Regional Economic Development, and, recently, worked on the Stronger Economies Together Project covering the Western Nevada Development District.  Also Dr. Harris is a Fellow with the Western Rural Development Center.