Richard Howarth

Rich Howarth is an environmental and ecological economist who studies the interface between economic theory and the ecological, moral, and social dimensions of environmental issues. His topical interests focus on energy use, climate change, and ecological conservation. His research and teaching emphasize themes that include:

• The role of discounting, sustainability, and intergenerational fairness in evaluating long-term environmental policies.
• Mathematical models of the relationship between economic growth, the natural environment, and human well-being.
• The interplay between economics, ecology, ethics, and deliberative politics in valuing and managing ecological resources.
• The role of public policies in promoting the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors and technologies.

Professor Howarth graduated summa cum laude from the Biology and Society Program atCornell University (A.B., 1985) and holds an M.S. in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1987). He earned his Ph.D. from the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley (1990), where he collaborated with Richard B. Norgaard on the economics of natural resources and sustainable development.

Before joining Dartmouth’s faculty in 1998, Professor Howarth held research and teaching positions at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1990-1993) and the University of California at Santa Cruz (1993-1998).

Since January of 2008, he has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Ecological Economics.