Courses and Syllabi

  • Climate Risk Management (Undergrad - AEEC 3984 + 3984H - Special Study, New Fall 2023)

Climate change poses a series of fundamental challenges to sustaining human lives and livelihoods around the globe, influencing flood risk, species distributions, agricultural yields, conflicts, and many other measures linked to human health and welfare. This course breaks down the science and economics of extreme weather associated with climate change, examining how we detect changes in the earth’s long-term weather patterns, what we know about the implications of those changes on how society functions, and policy options to help people manage the risks it poses. In the process, we will also develop our technical skills by enhancing our understanding of the common tools used in economics to understand impacts as well as practicing the skills of interpreting scientific work for general audiences.

[1] Note: an Honors Faculty-Student agreement option is available for students seeking an honors designation for the course. Reach out within the first two weeks of class to get this squared away!

  • Remote Sensing for Social Scientists (Graduate - AAEC 5544/GEOG 5544/FREC 5544 - Fall)

    The increasing accessibility of frequently updated geospatial information from remote sensors is enabling novel ways to detect changes in environmental conditions, communities, and even cash flows. This geospatial data revolution has in turn been opening up new ways of enhancing environmental compliance, supporting sustainable development efforts, and even managing crisis relief logistics. Yet, the increasing accessibility also comes with the peril of potential misuse, however, and the possibility to bamboozle instead of enlighten. This graduate level course examines how remotely sensed data have and can be used in social science research, with a focus on the practical deployment of publicly available remote sensing data for applications in environment, agriculture, and economic development as well as in your own research.

    [1] As of May 12, 2022, this course is now an official class under Virginia Tech, listed under AAEC5544 (FREC 5544)(GEOG5544). The prior course number of 6984 was a special studies (temporary) one.

    [2] As voted on by the participants of the Remote Sensing IGEP at Virginia Tech in November of 2021, this course now meets one of the core course requirements for the certificate program.

  • Environmental & Sustainable Development Economics (Undergrad - AEEC 3324 - Spring)

Economics is the study of scarcity and choice. This course examines how economics can be used to manage scarce environmental resources, with a focus on approaches used to assess the costs and benefits of various policy designs. We can then apply these concepts to address a series of current policy questions, such as what are the impacts of strengthening or relaxing air and water pollution regulations, and how are those impacts distributed? What are the costs of climate change in the U.S. and abroad, and what are the trade-offs of different policy options to manage those costs? What is ``sustainable development," and how may environmental problems differ in developing countries?

Need a reference letter? Please read below!

I am glad to advise and support my students in pursuing their professional development opportunities.

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Additional Gems that may help smooth out wrinkles of the student experience

Here’s a few of my favorite general purpose resources for students (adapted from a great list curated by Prof Viji Sathay at UNC, linked here):