Laura Villegas

2015 – 2016 Global Change Fellow

Where are they now?

Laura is a Senior Research Analyst at Earth Economics in Tacoma, WA.

Statement of Purpose:

I am a Colombian third year PhD student of Agricultural and Resource Economics at NC State University. Social development and the sustainable administration of natural resources are among my top academic and personal interests and I hope to make them the center of my research and career. In particular, I would like to explore the synergy between agricultural systems and their ecological context in order to formulate feasible and effective policy instruments that promote their continual maintenance and flourishing.

Description of Research:

Ecosystems provide society with a wide range of services—from reliable flows of clean water to productive soil, carbon sequestration and maintenance of genetic diversity. Individuals, companies, and communities rely on these services for raw inputs, production processes, food security and climate resilience, among other benefits.
My research combines the theoretical analysis of certain aspects of human behavior as proposed by the economics discipline with computational tools such as mathematical models and sophisticated statistical techniques to appropriately identify and quantify the economic value to society from environmental goods and services.
A relevant application of this framework is the undergoing reconsideration of current laws dictating the location and management of wild-life reservoirs in the coasts of North and South Carolina. Using lessons from the theory and valuation methodologies used in environmental economics to understand the mechanisms of generation and transmission of value in society can help guiding policy decisions regarding the identification of tradeoffs, funding allocation and how to incentivize human behavior in the context of managing natural resources and in the face of climate change.

Publications:

• Eaton, M.J., Johnson, F.A., Mikels-Carrasco, J., Case, D.J., Martin, J., Stith, B., Yurek, S., Udell, B., Villegas, L., Taylor, L., Haider, Z., Charkhgard, H., and Kwon, C., 2021, Cape Romain Partnership for Coastal Protection: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2021–1021, 158 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20211021
• Salvi Asefi-Najafabady, Laura Villegas-Ortiz & Jamie Morgan (2021) The failure of Integrated Assessment Models as a response to ‘climate emergency’ and ecological breakdown: the Emperor has no clothes, Globalizations, 18:7, 1178-1188, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2020.1853958

Contact Information:

Email: villegas.ortiz.laura@gmail.com
Website: https://www.wri.org/profile/laura-villegas-oritz