Dear LFS and Forestry graduate students,

As part of the University-wide Black Faculty Cohort Hiring Initiative, the Faculties of Forestry and Land and Food Systems are conducting a search for an Assistant Professor in Natural Resource Economics (see Job Ad). Our last two candidates will be interviewed next week. We would like to invite you to lunch with the 3^rd candidate, as follows:  

Tuesday, Feb 11, 12:00-1:00pm, MacMillan 350 (Protensia Hadunka)

Please RSVP to lfs.recruiting@ubc.ca and include any dietary restrictions by 4pm on Friday, Feb 7

You are also invited to attend their research and teaching seminars. We would welcome your feedback following the interviews, as per forms below.

 

Protensia Hadunka (Feb 10-11)

Protensia Hadunka is a Ph.D. candidate in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in Agricultural and Environmental Economics. His research examines the intersection of agricultural markets, climate change, and food security, applying causal inference to address key environmental and economic challenges. He investigates how climate shocks impact agricultural productivity, land use decisions, and deforestation. Hadunka has led extensive field research, designing and managing large-scale, nationally representative surveys in Zambia. He collaborates with policymakers and international organizations, including the International Growth Center (IGC) and the Zambian Presidential Advisory Board, providing policy recommendations on agricultural resilience and market stability.

Teaching Demonstration: Decentralized Policies in Environmental Economics: Exploring Liability, Property Rights, and Market Solutions

February 10th, 11:00am-12:00pm

FSC-2916 (CAWP Caseroom)

Research Talk: Agricultural Production Shocks, Natural Resources, and Welfare

February 11th, 9:30-11:00am

FSC-1222 (2424 Main Mall)

Abstract:

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to some of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. One driver may be negative agricultural shocks that lead households to consume natural

resources as a coping mechanism. This paper uses the introduction of a novel agricultural pest to estimate the effect of a negative agricultural shock on charcoal production and deforestation, and to test whether adaptation strategies mitigate this effect. Using four years of primary household panel data from across Zambia I find a positive and significant effect of FAW on charcoal production and deforestation. The estimates indicate that as the FAW intensity increases from 0 to the median level the probability of a farmer producing charcoal by 16%, leading to an increase in deforestation of 13.6%. When methods to mitigate FAW damage are available, farmers are less likely to resort to charcoal production as a coping strategy. Having the ability to reduce the share of maize, diversify the crops produced, use pesticides, or migrate for off-farm employment are associated with a lower propensity to switch to charcoal production in response to FAW. I find that households cut 13 additional trees due to FAW, but this increase is reduced by 4 – 5 trees when coping strategies are implemented.

Feedback Form: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3WAAv8e4QtmHzqS

 

Yacouba Kassouri (Feb 13-14)

Yacouba Kassouri holds a PhD in Economics and works as a postdoctoral fellow in the Biodiversity Economics group at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in Leipzig, Germany. His research interests lie in the field of environmental and natural resource economics with a concentration on urban biodiversity conservation and the economic linkages between nature, human, and social welfare. As an applied environmental economist, he is particularly interested in understanding the human-nature nexus using modern econometric methods for causal inference and various non-market valuation techniques. In his current research, he proposes an alternative life satisfaction valuation approach that allows the use of causal inference tool to recover the shadow price for local environmental public goods, and explores potential trade-offs among natural landscape protection and the provision urban open spaces.

Teaching Demonstration: Economics of Timber Harvesting

February 13^th, 12:00-1:00pm

McM 258 (2357 Main Mall)

Research Talk: Life satisfaction shadow price for environmental public goods

February 14^th, 9:30-11:00am

FSC-1222 (2424 Main Mall)

Abstract:

Unpacking people’s self-rated life satisfaction to price environmental public goods is promising to inform well-being-improving decisions. Yet, previous contributions

yield inconsistent estimates of the income-life satisfaction conversion rate, leading to an overvaluation of non-market environmental goods. This paper develops and implements a new valuation framework for calculating the life satisfaction shadow price for environmental goods in a two-step regression procedure. Using restricted georeferenced longitudinal survey data on life satisfaction, we find that the two-step valuation approach produces smaller shadow prices (with and without instrumenting for income) compared to the individual level valuation (one-step regression). We provide strong empirical evidence that the overvaluation bias reported in the existing life satisfaction literature can be largely explained by the level of valuation rather than the endogeneity of income, as previously exposed in the literature. Exploiting variations in labor demand shocks across industries in a shift-share instrumental variable strategy, we demonstrate that although the instrumental variable approach significantly increases the size of the income coefficient, the resulting shadow prices remain relatively similar to those obtained without instrumenting for income. The valuation framework championed in this study knits together research on the causal linkages between humans and nature with studies on non-market environmental valuation.

Feedback Form: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4Gf3yrAgP3rAiCa

 

 

Melanie Train

Human Resources Manager-Faculty | Faculty of Land and Food Systems

The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus

248-2357 Main Mall | Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4

Phone 604-822-3105 | Fax 604-822-6394

Email:  melanie.train@ubc.ca

Office: M/W/F: Remote: T/Th