Pierce Donovan

Pierce Donovan is working on problems involving endangered species conservation, land use, and climate change. Within these settings, his research emphasizes sustainable ecological-economic systems. He has developed cost-effective management plans for riparian species interaction and hydropower generation in the Grand Canyon ecosystem, bycatch management in California, and emissions abatement at a global scale.

His methodological specializations in causal inference and mathematical modeling have expanded the scope of his research beyond environmental economics, especially when working with the varied interests of student collaborators or local CT stakeholders. He uses his position and expertise to promote student research opportunities and sound local development, whenever possible. 

Pierce Donovan’s teaching interests are in environmental and natural resource economics and econometrics. He teaches environmental economics at three levels: an introductory environmental economics course that applies the principles of economics to environmental policy design, an upper-division natural resource economics course which helps students acquire skills in mathematical modeling and computational methods in order to make a quantitative contribution to environmental policy, and a research seminar that aids seniors in their transition from students to practitioners of environmental economics. In his advanced econometrics course, he focuses on finding those special occasions where correlation does imply causation—and the principles of good empirical research design.

Pierce Donovan completed his Ph.D. at University of California, Davis, and previously taught at Colgate University. Prior to studying Natural Resource Economics at UC Davis, he earned a B.S. in Physics at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Learn more about Pierce Donovan's research and teaching on his website.

Visit the economics department website.

Majoring in Economics.