PhD Student
Pronouns: she/her
Education
BS, Environmental Studies, University of Vermont
BS, Community & International Development, University of Vermont
MS, Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University
Bio
Gemma is an environmental economist passionate about using economic methods and tools to solve environmental problems. The research questions she will explore as a PhD student at UCSB will apply nonmarket valuation techniques with econometrics and big data to improve coupled human-natural systems such as agriculture and forestry. As a graduate student researcher on an interdisciplinary UC-National Lab Research and Training Award titled “Coastal Wetland Restoration: A Nature Based Decarbonization Multi-Benefit Climate Mitigation Solution,” Gemma hopes to dynamically model the optimal tradeoff between sea level rise, flood protection, and coastal restoration efforts.
Gemma’s interest in solutions-based environmental research began as an undergraduate at the University of Vermont (2018) where she earned B.S. degrees in Environmental Studies and Community & International Development. Her past research evaluates farmer participation in U.S.-based agri-environmental programs and the externalities of nonpoint source pollution in water systems. Most recently, Gemma obtained her M.S. in Applied Economics from Cornell University (2022), where her thesis research estimated the economic value of the New York State Park System using geospatial mobile phone data.
Year Admitted
2022
Faculty Advisors
Andrew Plantinga (Social Science Group)