Sea Grant’s Practical Approach to Economic Valuation: building a toolbox for non-economists

OneNOAA Science Seminar

Title: Sea Grant’s Practical Approach to Economic Valuation:  building a toolbox for non-economists

Speaker(s):Margaret Chory, John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow, Socioeconomic Specialist, and Alison Krepp,  Program Officer and Social Science and Economics Lead, both with with NOAA's National Sea Grant Office

Sponsor(s): NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS) Science Seminar Series: coordinator is Tracy.GIll@noaa.gov 

Remote Access: Register at:
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Abstract: Chances are you’ve been asked, or are at least curious about, your program’s economic benefits. Do you have an economist on staff to answer these questions? If you’re like most of the 34 state Sea Grant programs, the answer is likely no. Since 2017, the National Sea Grant College Program, Sea Grant, has engaged in a deliberate strategy to enhance the capacity of its non-economists to perform basic valuations that support their program’s economic stories and meet NOAA’s performance measure requirements. Over the last three years, the National Sea Grant Office has worked under contract with economists at ERG and in coordination with the state Sea Grant programs to produce 11 economic valuation resources for non-economists. To promote the adoption and implementation of these tools, Sea Grant has coupled these products with community support strategies that enhance their use. The initial results are promising, with an increasing number of state programs reporting their economic benefits to the national office over the same time period.  This presentation will outline Sea Grant’s end-user driven approach and practical strategy for increasing its internal capacity for economic valuation and provide insights (and caveats) for others with an interest in doing the same within their programs. 

Sea Grant is a national network made up of 34 university-based programs established by Congress to “enhance the practical use and conservation of coastal, marine and Great Lakes resources to create a sustainable economy and environment”.

Bio(s): 

Margaret Chory is a 2020 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in NOAA’s National Sea Grant Office where she serves as the program’s socioeconomic specialist. In this role, she has supported the contract to create new valuation resources and worked to build economic valuation capacity throughout the Sea Grant network. Prior to Sea Grant, Margaret earned a Masters in Coastal Environmental Management from the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment where her research focused on the values associated with ‘fishing for food’ in coastal North Carolina, and the benefits that fishers derive from access to public fishing infrastructure.

Alison Krepp leads the social science and economics portfolios for the National Sea Grant Office and serves as the program officer to the Maine, New Hampshire, MIT, Woods Hole, and Rhode Island Sea Grant programs. Prior to joining Sea Grant, Alison worked with NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System where her roles included national strategic planning lead, social scientist, and regional coordinator to the northeast research reserves. Alison also worked as a planner with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources where she focused on community engagement in river conservation. Alison holds a master’s degree in resource policy and behavior from the University of Michigan. Her research examined the influences of organizational behavior on sustaining partner involvement in network initiatives.

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(Margaret Chory, John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow, Socioeconomic Specialist, National Sea Grant Office; and Alison Krepp, Program Officer and Social Science and Economics Lead, National Sea Grant Office)