RFF named Molly Macauley as its new vice president for research. Macauley, an RFF senior fellow and former research director, brings more than 25 years of economic research expertise and leadership to her new role. Macauley now oversees all research and educational programs at RFF and guides efforts to expand RFF’s contributions to environmental, energy, and natural resource policy research and analysis.
Alan Krupnick, director of RFF’s Center for Energy Economics and Policy, was named president-elect of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE) during its winter meeting in Chicago. Krupnick was selected and recognized for his work on air quality, health valuation, and integrated interdisciplinary environmental assessments as well as his contributions to the field through mentorship, leadership, and extensive community involvement outside RFF.
Yusuke Kuwayama joined RFF as a new fellow. Kuwayama, who received a Ph.D. in agricultural and applied economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, focuses on tradable groundwater permits, adjusting for time lags and uncertainty in marketable permit design, and optimal groundwater policy in the case of contaminant dispersion.
RFF Fellow Carolyn Kousky was selected to attend the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Conference on Ecosystem Services. Kousky was one of the approximately 100 applicants selected, based on their active professional involvement, the breadth and depth of their experience, and the diverse perspectives they bring to the topic of ecosystem services.
Elisheba Beia Spiller joined RFF as a new post-doctoral researcher after completing a Ph.D. in economics at Duke University. Her research focuses on energy and transportation issues, with a particular emphasis on estimating vehicle and gasoline demand.
RFF Senior Fellow and Chauncey Starr Chair in Risk Analysis Roger Cooke received the 2011 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society for Risk Analysis. He was also honored as the 2011 Best Reviewer.
James Boyd, co-director of RFF’s Center for the Management of Ecological Wealth, launched a new RFF partnership with the University of Marylandto establish the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, SESYNC will initiate, support, and coordinate transdisciplinary research across the social and physical sciences to address policy and stakeholder needs.
RFF named the following academic fellowships and special stipend awardees to conduct environmental and energy research during the coming year:
Gilbert F. White Postdoctoral Fellowships
- Jintao Xu, chair of the Department of Environmental Management at Peking University, is studying China’s collective forest tenure reform.
- Jared Carbone, professor of economics at the University of Calgary, is examining benefit–cost assessments of environmental policies related to human health outcomes.
- James L. Smith, Cary M. Maguire Professor of Oil and Gas Management at the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University, is researching various oil market issues, including the impact of financial trading on oil prices.
Joseph L. Fisher Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships
- W. Reed Walker, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at Columbia University, is completing his dissertation on market and nonmarket valuation as it pertains to the costs and benefits of environmental policy.
- Michael Madowitz, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at the University of California, San Diego, is finishing his research on the fiscal effects of environmental taxation at the state level.
- Alison Sexton, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota, is continuing her research on the impacts of air-quality information on consumer health risk–avoidance behavior.
John V. Krutilla Research Stipend
- Junjie Zhang, an assistant professor of environmental economics in the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at the University of California, San Diego, is examining wind power development in China.
Welcome New RFF Board Members
RFF is pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to its Board of Directors. Each brings a wealth of experience and leadership to help RFF improve its research and outreach in the coming years.
Anthony Bernhardt, Co-Director, Northern California Chapter, Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2)
Tony Bernhardt had a 30-year career as a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he served as director of the Center for Microelectronics and Optoelectronics. In that position, he earned the Department of Energy Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. Currently, Bernhardt is a northern California co-director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, an organization of business volunteers advocating environmental legislation from a business perspective. He was part of the core E2 team that successfully advocated passage of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), and he continues to work on clean energy technology and policy. Bernhardt is a member of the Global Leadership Council of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Red Cavaney, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, ConcoPhillips
Red Cavaney is responsible for the government affairs efforts of ConocoPhillips as well as its communications and public affairs activities. Previously, Cavaney was president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. He also has served as president and CEO of the American Paper Institute, founding president and CEO of the American Plastics Council and the American Forest & Paper Association, and president of Ericson Yachts, Inc. He also served on the senior staffs of Presidents Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon. Cavaney was honorably discharged as a lieutenant from the U.S. Navy following three tours of combat duty in Vietnam. He is a member of the boards of directors of Buckeye Technologies and the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, among others.
Richard G. Newell, Gendell Associate Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
Richard G. Newell is the director of Duke’s university-wide energy initiative. From July 2009 through June 2011, he served as the seventh administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Newell also served as the senior economist for energy and environment on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a university fellow at RFF, where he also served previously as a senior fellow. Newell has published widely on the economics of markets and policies for energy, the environment, and related technologies, including incentives for technological innovation and adoption. He has served on numerous National Academy of Science committees, including Energy R&D, Innovation Inducement Prizes, Energy Externalities, and Energy Efficiency.
Lisa A. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sheridan Production Partners
Lisa Stewart became CEO of Sheridan Production Partners in September 2006, after serving as the president of El Paso Exploration & Production Company. At El Paso, Stewart oversaw restructuring to focus on capital efficiency and returns, as well as the exit from international power and other unregulated businesses to bring focus to the company’s two main business segments. Previously, she worked for Apache for 20 years, where she had responsibility for sourcing and negotiating mergers and acquisitions transactions, environmental health and safety, reserves reporting, land administration, and purchasing. Stewart began her professional career with Cities Service Oil and Gas (now Occidental Petroleum) as a reservoir engineer. She is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
