From 1996-1999, Dr. Joshua Farley taught ecological economics at the School for Field Studies, Centre for Rainforest Studies (CRS), serving as program director for his final year. While at CRS, he conducted field research in collaboration with community stakeholders and students applying ecological economics to local environmental problems. Specific projects focused on the valuation of ecosystem services from riparian forests for local dairy farmers, regional communities and international society; cultural values and ethnoecology; and local, regional and global values of various approaches to forestry.

He joined the Institute as Executive Director in September, 1999. Joshua's major research interests include mechanisms for allocating resources under local control and national sovereignty that generate global public goods, developing transdisciplinary case study approaches to environmental problem solving as an educational tool, ecological restoration of rainforest ecosystems, economic globalization, ecosystem valuation, watershed management, and international development.