Research

Overview

My research examines how people, communities, and organizations respond to environmental, agricultural, and economic change. I use a combination of experiments, surveys, administrative records, and observational data to study questions related to conservation policy, climate adaptation, rural development, and environmental decision-making. My work is motivated by policy-relevant questions and aims to produce evidence that can inform public decision-making.

Rural Economies & Natural Amenities

I study how environmental and geographic characteristics influence quality of life, migration, and economic development in rural communities.

Recent projects include:

• Modernization of the USDA Natural Amenities Scale
• Rural population change and demographic trends

Conservation & Agricultural Policy

My research examines how agricultural producers respond to conservation programs and policy incentives, with a focus on both adoption and long-term persistence of conservation practices.

Selected work:

• Beyond adoption: The persistence of conservation and climate-smart agricultural practices in the United States (PNAS, 2025)
• Persistence of Cover Crop Use in Crop Production in the United States, 2012–2022 (USDA ERS, 2026)
• Informational nudges in conservation auctions: A field experiment with U.S. farmers (Food Policy, 2023)

Climate Adaptation & Risk

I investigate how households, communities, and agricultural producers adapt to environmental risks including drought, flooding, and long-run climate change.

Selected work:

• Addressing coordination problems in residential buyouts: Experimental evidence for managed retreat in the face of climate change-related threats (Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2024)
• Heterogeneous and conditional returns from DT maize for farmers in Southern Africa (European Review of Agricultural Economics, 2021)

Experimental & Applied Economics

I use experiments and empirical methods to understand behavior and evaluate policy interventions. My work combines economic theory with practical policy questions in agriculture, environmental management, and community resilience.

Methods include:

• Field experiments
• Survey experiments
• Administrative data analysis
• Econometrics
• Spatially structured data analysis