Health effects stemming from animal feeding operations pollution in the contiguous United States are analyzed using a 20-year, county-level data set. Several quasi-experimental, potential outcome models are used to estimate the impact of high concentrations of animal units on mortality rates and other health and economic outcomes over a 20-year...
A plethora of land use policies are implemented at the local, state, and federal levels to influence the manner in which land is utilized. The distribution of the costs and benefits associated with implementing such land use policies always has been, and will continue to be, a source of contention....
Environmental quality and the spatial distribution of economic activities affect each other in many ways. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to understanding the complex interrelationship and its policy implications. This dissertation consists of three essays.
The first essay examines the roles that locational amenities and increasing...
The impact of recent severe droughts throughout the United States, the potential for climate change to intensify the frequency and severity of drought, and discussion about the future of government assistance in agriculture highlight the need for a transition from drought as ‘disaster’ to drought as ‘managed risk’. However, guidance...
The major historical studies that have examined American
biology have emphasized the development of experimental biology at
the end of the nineteenth century. In this characterization, the
descriptive branch of biology has often been treated as less than
important and, in several cases, as a hindrance in the application
of...
Reservoir systems in the western US are managed to serve two main competing purposes: to reduce flooding during the winter and spring, and to provide water supply for multiple uses during the summer. Because the storage capacity of a reservoir cannot be used for both flood damage reduction and water...
Biophysical, socioeconomic and geopolitical pressures from population growth and economic development are leading to an increase in tensions regarding the sharing of water within transboundary basins. Transboundary basins are surface rivers and groundwater resources that are shared among sovereign nations and autonomous regions. This dissertation focuses on surface water in...
This dissertation consists of three essays on meta-analysis, benefit transfer and recreation use valuation. The first two essays were based on the sportsfishing valuation literature in the US and Canada while the third essay was based on a study
site in the Philippines and selected study sites from the US....