Peter Omasta

Bio
Peter Omasta is specializing in Economics and Politics of the Environment at the Bren school. He completed his degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder (2014). While at CU and for a year following he worked in an ecosystem ecology lab at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. Following extreme flooding throughout Colorado’s Front Range in 2013, he monitored, analyzed, and presented the effects the floods had on grassland plant communities. While presenting at the Ecological Society of America conference in 2015, he came across a book, A Field Guide to Economics for Conservationists, which inspired him to see how economics can be used to further conservation efforts. To gain knowledge of economic systems, he worked at Fidelity Investments as a financial representative for three years, where he assisted clients with trading, market research, and financial education. After Bren, he aims to show how conservation efforts can actually promote economic progress, especially by using bonds to fund sustainable efforts that provide returns to their buyers. Additionally, he aspires to start a science communication podcast focused on land management strategies that are science-based, ecologically effective, and have positive economic impacts.