Economics

College of Business

 

H. Jo Albers

Professor; Wyoming Excellence Chair in Conservation Economics

 

BU 289 W | Office Hours

307-766-5331 | jo.albers@uwyo.edu

 

Curriculum Vitae

 

About

Heidi J. Albers (Jo) is the Wyoming Excellence Chair in Conservation Economics in the Department of Economics at the University of Wyoming. Jo’s research follows two strands: integrated spatial bio-economic models for optimal resource and conservation decisions and economic policy analysis at the intersection of biodiversity conservation and rural poverty. Methodologically, Jo’s research typically develops empirically-inspired spatial and temporal decision models that include characteristics of both the socioeconomic and ecological setting. Her international work includes recent and current research in Tanzania, Costa Rica, and Chile, with less recent research in China, Thailand, and India. This research includes her career-long emphasis on protected areas as a conservation tool, including both terrestrial and marine settings, and other topics such as integrating poverty-alleviation projects, their locations, and enforcement activities for better forest/land management and rural livelihoods; improving REDD implementation through appropriate incentives; spatial allocations of projects and management to improve marine protected area outcomes; and small-scale aquaculture adoption. Her current bio-economics research includes highly interdisciplinary spatial-dynamic analysis of invasive species management and spatial economic analysis of landscape policies to conserve migratory species. In collaboration with mathematicians, biologists, data analysts, and other economists, a primary thrust of Jo’s current work considers how people and economics can be incorporated into systematic conservation planning to generate more conservation benefits from landscapes. In addition, Jo acts as a mentor to women and other junior researchers in Wyoming and around the world.

 

Selected Publications

“Ecological Characteristics of Seasonal Migratory Species: Understanding Threats and Policy Needs.” Heidi J Albers, Katherine D. Lee, Alejandra Martínez-Salinas, Arthur Middleton, Melanie Murphy, Stephen Newbold, Temple Stoellinger. Paper 1 in Economics and Policy for Seasonal Migratory Species Conservation Symposium. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. Forthcoming.

“Optimal Siting, Sizing, and Enforcement of Marine Protected Areas.”  HJ Albers, L Preonas, T Capitan, EJZ Robinson, and R Madrigal. 2020. Environmental and Resource Economics 77(1):229-269.

“Promoting small-scale aquaculture in coastal Chile: The roles of user rights and location in activity choices and incomes.” 2021. Heidi J. Albers, Carlos Chavez, Jorge Dresdner, and Mauricio Leiva. Marine Resource Economics 36(4). https://doi.org/10.1086/715548

“Near-term ecological forecasting for dynamic aerial conservation of migratory birds.” 2021. Kyle G. Horton, Benjamin M. Van Doren, Heidi J. Albers, Andrew Farnsworth, Daniel Sheldon. Conservation Biology. DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13740

“Maintenance Costs, Price Uncertainty, and Abandonment in Shade-Grown Coffee Production:  Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico.” 2021. Heidi J. Albers, Stephanie Brockmann, and Beatriz Ávalos-Sartorio.  Environment and Development Economics 26: 403-428.

“Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: Conserving Big Game Migrations.” 2020.  Temple Stoellinger, Heidi J Albers, Arthur Middleton, Jason Shogren. Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum 31(1) Fall.

 

Education

Ph.D. in Economics. University of California at Berkeley.

M.E.S. in Environmental Studies. Yale University.

B.S. in Geology and Economics. Duke University.