Robert is an interdisciplinary land system scientist who combines approaches from economics, geography and ecology to explore the way society uses and governs natural resources. He is an Associate Professor in UCSB’s Environmental Studies Program and the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and the Land and Freshwater Program Director at the Environmental Markets Lab. Robert earned his Ph.D. from the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program for Environment and Resources at Stanford University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Carlson Lab at the University of Hawaii. His curriculum vitae is available here, and his google scholar profile is available here.

Flavio Malagutti is a Postdoctoral Researcher intersecting environmental, development, and behavioral economics. His work focuses on household and firm behavior in low-income settings, with a particular emphasis on common pool resources, clean energy use, and the psychological effects of financial constraints. Flavio combines field experiments, administrative data, and applied microeconometric theory to study questions of market design, policy targeting, and consumer decision-making. He has conducted research in Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia in collaboration with utilities, regulators, and development agencies. Flavio’s goal is to inform the design of cost-effective and equitable policies that promote environmental sustainability and economic resilience in developing countries. Flavio’s website.

Jason Benedict is an Assistant Research Specialist who joined CEL in January 2018. Jason received his B.S degree in Remote Sensing from University of Technology Malaysia in 2004. He is interested in using data science and geospatial technologies to map supply chains and better understand the environmental and social impacts of no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation (NDPE) policies and eco-certification in oil palm supply chains. Prior to joining the lab, Jason was the Data Analytics and Visualization Lead at The Forest Trust in Malaysia. In his spare time, Jason enjoys going for a good run, catching a movie, reading and following his favorite football team, Liverpool FC.

Brian is a landscape ecologist who studies the interactions between managed and natural landscapes, using remote sensing data fusion and machine learning to analyze agricultural and forestry systems. Brian holds a BS in Biology from Pacific Union College and served for three years in Rwanda as a Peace Corps Volunteer, where he taught high school science and worked as a conservation scientist studying mountain gorillas and training wildlife rangers in the Virunga Massif. He earned a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and later worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the calibration/validation lead for the ECOSTRESS sensor aboard the ISS under Dr. Josh Fisher. Outside of research, Brian enjoys surfing small-ish waves, experimenting in the kitchen, and sharing quiet moments with his partner and dog.

Linus Blomqvist is a PhD candidate at UCSB's Bren School specializing in Economics and Environmental Science. He is the former Director of the Food and Agriculture program at the Breakthrough Institute. Linus's work lies at the intersection of conservation and agriculture, and ranges from evaluating impacts of zero-deforestation policies to modeling trends in crop yields. He uses methods from diverse fields, with an emphasis on econometrics and causal inference. Linus has published widely in the areas of conservation, agriculture, and environmental policy. He has co-authored ten peer-reviewed papers and two book chapters, as well as blogs and essays on issues ranging from decoupling to land sparing, precision agriculture, aquaculture, feedlots, and fertilizers. Linus's work has been featured in publications such as the New York Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, New Scientist, Wired, The Guardian, and many others. Linus holds an MESc from Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a BA in Geography from Cambridge University. Website.

Anna Pede is a PhD candidate at UCSB’s Bren School, where she specializes in Economics and Environmental Science. Anna holds a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Economics from the University of São Paulo. Her research focuses on the drivers of forest loss and land use change in South America. Anna has ongoing research projects in Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. In her free time, Anna loves practicing yoga. Anna’s Website.

UCSB

UCSB

UCSB

UCSB

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

University of Bonn

Penn State University

California Institute of Technology

Georgetown University

City of Atascadero

University of Utah

emLab