Conservation Economics Institute
Economic solutions for conservation today, a brighter future tomorrow.
Board of Advisors
In Loving Memory,
Yeon-Su Kim, Ph.D.
Advising Economist
Dr. Yeon-Su Kim is an ecological economist at the School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University. She has extensive research experiences in payments for ecosystem services, and community-based forest management in developing countries and has published several peer-reviewed articles on these topics applied in Mexico, Thailand, Honduras, South Korea, and Indonesia. She has been working in eastern Indonesia since 2011, as an external researcher for the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). In addition to research, she has been working on several initiatives for building innovative university partnerships for regional capacity building.
Tom Holmes, Ph.D.
Advising Economist
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Dr. Tom Holmes is an Emeritus Scientist with the Southern Research Station (SRS), USDA Forest Service. After a stint with the USDA Economic Research Service, he devoted more than three decades with the SRS. His research portfolio includes more than 100 studies on the non-market valuation of public goods (water supplies, forest health, endangered species), the economic impacts of natural disturbances (invasive species, wildfires, hurricanes) and economic-ecological strategies for conserving tropical forests (eco-tourism, reduced impact logging). His current research involves the relationships between evolving socio-economic conditions and the preservation of wilderness and other wild lands.
John B. Loomis, Ph.D.
Advising Economist
Dr. John Loomis is a professor in the Dept. of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Colorado State University. He is the author of four books and more than 200 journal articles dealing with the non-market valuation of natural resources and recreation. His research includes contingent valuation of wilderness, endangered species, public lands, wetlands, and water quality. He is a Distinguished Scholar of the Western Agricultural Economics Association, a Fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists and a Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. Prior to coming to Colorado State University, Dr. Loomis was an Associate Professor at University of California-Davis.
Gwendolyn Aldrich, Ph.D.
Advising Economist
Dr. Gwendolyn Aldrich is a consulting economist based in Helena, Montana. She has a Ph.D. in Environmental & Natural Resource Economics from the University of New Mexico and more than 15 years’ experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Gwendolyn’s research portfolio includes studies pertaining to issues of exhaustible resource extraction, valuation of public goods, natural resource management and regulation, invasive species control, and urban development.
Pete Morton, Ph.D.
Advising Economist
Dr. Pete Morton is a consulting economist based in Boulder, Colorado. He has a B.A. in Accounting and Business Administration, a Masters of Forestry with an emphasis on quantitative modeling, and a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Economics. Pete has 20 years of professional work experience in the private, academic, and non-profit sectors, including many years as the Director of Economic Research at The Wilderness Society. In addition to publishing numerous academic and legal papers, he has testified before the United States Congress and in U.S. Federal Court on economic, energy and environmental issues. Pete is an avid skier and mountaineer.
Evan E. Hjerpe, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Dr. Evan Hjerpe is a consulting economist based in Twin Falls, Idaho. He holds a Ph.D. in forest economics and management from Northern Arizona University, where he also was a visiting assistant professor. His expertise includes conservation benefits, forest management, ecological restoration, and ecosystem services. He has consulted for private businesses, non-profit organizations, federal agencies, and universities. Evan recently served on the federal Forestry Research Advisory Council (FRAC) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.