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Curriculum Vita ~ Recent Presentations ~ Current Research Projects ~ Teaching |
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| Jon D. Erickson is Associate Professor
at the Rubenstein School of Environment
and Natural Resources and the Environmental Program at the University
of Vermont, and Fellow of the Gund Institute
for Ecological Economics. From 1997 to 2002 he was Assistant Professor
of Economics at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute where he helped build the first Ph.D. program in Ecological
Economics. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Natural Resource Economics from Cornell University, B.S. and A.S.
degrees in Business Management from Cornell and North Country Community College, and was
Lecturer and Visiting Professor in statistics at Cornell and the University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia.
His research
includes work on climate change economics and policy, renewable
energy development, greenhouse gas emissions and energy modeling, and community-based
watershed management, published in over 40 articles including the journals
Science, Ecological Economics, Climatic Change, Land Economics, World Development,
and Energy Policy. His transdisciplinary, problem-based research approach
and diverse experience in teaching ecological economics in and out of the
classroom is captured in a new book with Josh Farley and Herman Daly on Ecological Economics: a Workbook
on Problem-Based Learning (Island Press, 2005). Other forthcoming
books include Ecological
Economics of Sustainable Watershed Management (Elsevier) and The Great
Experiment in Conservation: Light from the Adirondack Prism (Syracuse
University Press). He teaches
both undergraduate and graduate courses in ecological economics and topical
problem-based courses in forest resource values, community empowerment and
health education through grassroots sports, and regional sustainable development,
and was recently honored with UVM’s first Service Learning Award. He has
served on the board of directors of the International
and U.S. Societies for Ecological
Economics, and is past president of the Adirondack Research Consortium. Jon
lives in South Burlington, Vermont with his wife Pat,
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science faculty at UVM, and their
two boys, Louis and Jon, aspiring extreme skiers and movie makers. |
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| Ecological Economics My teaching, research, and outreach activities have been shaped by a domain of inquiry that doesn't fit comfortably in the box called "discipline". Rather, ecological economics is a transdisciplinary approach to economic, social, and environmental problem solving. "Transdisciplinary" implies a problem-orientation that draws from a diverse web of knowledge traditionally categorized into the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Ecological economics draws on each perspective, addressing complex problems and building shared understanding that enable solutions that are sustainable, equitable, and efficient. For instance, to understand the societal challenge of global climate change requires the insight of the scientist on the scale and consequences of the human population; the perspective of the social scientist on policy choice, design, and institutional context; and the wisdom of the humanities in illuminating the human spirit, exploring our place in the natural world, and appreciating our multi-cultural heritage and co-evolution. To move beyond just a multi-disciplinary understanding and toward transdisciplinary solutions requires that the interface between these perspectives be explored and new ideas formed. |
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| My teaching in the School of Natural Resources and the campus-wide Environmental Program takes this transdisciplinary perspective. Natural resource and environmental studies programs have decades of experience in multi-disciplinary education, where student minds were sprinkled with a little of this and a little of that in the hopes that integrated solutions would emerge. We now face the challenge of teaching integration itself through problem-oriented courses and integrative frameworks. For example, I teach Social Processes and the Environment (NR104) as part of a sophomore-level seven-credit block in the Natural Resources core curriculum. The class establishes a study of human social systems dependent on nature and culture (building from NR 2) consistent with the findings and current understanding of the natural sciences. Students take NR104 and Ecology, Ecosystem and the Environment (NR103) simultaneously, and have the unique opportunity to integrate the social sciences and humanities with the natural sciences through Environmental Problem Analysis (NR105), in preparation for a junior-level course in Ecosystem Management (NR 205). | ||
| This challenge is also reflected in my research. Drawing on my own disciplinary training in natural resource economics and quantitative methods, my research has focused on the interface of the economy with natural resource systems using integrative frameworks of dynamic systems simulation, input-output analysis, multi-criteria decision aide, and geographical information systems. My own problem orientation has involved multiple topics, including regional land-use planning, international energy and climate change policy, sustainable forest management, renewable energy development, and nuclear waste policy. My work on land-use includes participatory research in both the Adirondack Park region and lower Hudson Valley of New York State. As a founding member and past president of the Adirondack Research Consortium, I have been part of a process that seeks to bridge the gap between information producers and users, cross disciplinary boundaries in the holistic study of a region, and integrate local knowledge and priorities into a community-driven research process. Energy and climate change research has brought an international perspective to this regional focus, including computer modeling of national (e.g. China, U.S.) and global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. My interest in forest management and policy has largely been grounded in the northeastern U.S., collaborating with ecologists to better model forest economy dynamics and harvest decisions. Renewable energy research has included field research in the Dominican Republic on the feasibility of solar energy technology transfer to rural power markets. My work on U.S. nuclear waste policy was recognized by the National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans for shedding historical, legal, and economic light on recent political efforts to taken advantage of Indian sovereignty in an era of "radioactive colonialism". | ||
| My current professional activities include organizing the 2003 meeting of the U.S. Society for Ecological Economics in my hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY. At UVM I am active in SNR's core curriculum design and implementation, as a member of an interdisciplinary land-use modeling group, on the faculty of Environmental Studies and SNR programs in Recreation Management and Natural Resources Planning, and as an advisor to undergraduate, masters, and Ph.D. theses. | ||
Last modified May 30 2005 09:26 AM
