SyllabusS2009

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Professor Jennifer Thacher
Office: Econ 2006
Phone: 277-1965
Email: jthacher at unm dot edu
Office Hours: Mon/Weds 11-12 and by appt
Website: http://economics.thacher.us/

Textbooks

There is one required textbook for the course: Tietenberg (1998). Tietenberg (1998) is an environmental economics textbook, with a focus on policy. This book will be supplemented with numerous readings throughout the course.

Course Description

The primary goal of this class is to introduce you to environmental and natural resource economics. It is designed to be a fun, hands-on class. In order to provide context for the economic issues that we will be examining, we will focus on examples of these issues occurring in Nepal and New Mexico. Throughout the semester, we will take numerous field trips that highlight environmental and natural resource issues in New Mexico. I hope that given a taste of this discipline, you will choose to take additional economics courses, particularly in environmental and natural resources.

While this class does not have any specific pre-requisites, I will assume you can read, write, and do algebra. We will use a fair amount of graphical analysis but no calculus. The emphasis will be on readings, class discussions, and hands-on applications.

Upon completion of this course you will have acquired a basic understanding of how to apply economic analysis to environmental and natural resources issues. Specifically, you will have a good understanding of the marginal principle, benefit-cost analysis, externalities, public goods, and methods that economists use to estimate benefits. You will have developed an awareness of specific envirionmental and natural resource issues in New Mexico and Nepal. This class will provide you with a strong background for taking other environmental and natural resource economics courses. You will be able to interpret tables and charts from policy documents and be able to create your own from real-life data. You will be able to present your analysis through a variety of media, including verbally and online.

This class will serve as preparation for Economics 395, the Himalayan Study Abroad Program (Environment and Society at the Top of the World). The two-week trip will occur in late May 2009 and will focus on the Bagmati River in the Kathmandu Valley. The program will provide students with experiences in:

• Environment and health (e.g., water quality, water borne illness)
• Environment and conservation
• Sustainable development (e.g., micro credit program; eco-tourism)
• Sustainable technologies to promote environmental conservation
• Community participation and grass-roots organizations
• Arts, culture, myths, and legends

The topics covered and associated readings from the course books are shown in Table 1. The course schedule and topics covered may be adjusted by the instructor. The schedule for the class can be found on the class calendar.

Grading Policies

Table 2 shows how your grade will be calculated.

I believe that students learn best more when a class is not based just on lecture. Therefore, discussion will be an important component of the class. In order for the structure of this class to succeed, each student must actively participate. In order to receive a good grade for class participation, you must exhibit strong attendance throughout the semester, prepare for each class, and actively participate in class discussion. I expect that before coming to class, you will have completed the reading and thought through your answers to any discussion questions. Each class, students will be called upon to summarize the reading and lead the discussion.

Data reports: You will summarize and interpret various data sets dealing with the course topics. Your lowest data report will be dropped. If you are unable to complete a data report due to unforseen circumstances (illness, best friend visiting, taking dog to veternarian, running family business, etc) this will count as your dropped data report. All reports must be typed.

Field trip reports: This class is scheduled as a MWF. We will not meet most Fridays. Instead, these hours will be 'banked' and allocated for field trips that last 2-3 hours in length. Trip dates and times will be announced the second week of class. You must submit a written report for all but two of the field trips (i.e., you can miss two field trips). Attending all field trips is encouraged. Your report should provide background information on the issue examined and explain the underlying economic issue. Your economic explanation should be detailed enough that someone with no economics training can understand it. All reports must be typed.

There will be two exams, a midterm and a comprehensive final. If you do better on the final than the midterm, it will replace your midterm grade.

Table 3: Exam dates

Midterm
Final	from 10-12

Policies

I take academic honesty very seriously. Cheating is potentially punishable by a failing grade for the course and referral to the university. Submitting or copying other's work or not appropriately citing other's work is considering cheating.

If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Accessibility Services (7-3506) by the second week of class so that your needs may be addressed.

If you have a conflict between religious observance dates and course examinations or assignments, please notify me two weeks in advance so that your needs may be addressed.

If you have more than three examinations scheduled in any one day, you may notify the instructor of the last examination listed before April 6, 2009 and an alternate day will be scheduled.

In case you were curious.....

I'm originally from Whittier, CA. Whittier's four claims to fame are: (1) Richard Nixon was raised there; (2) Lou Henry Hoover (the President's wife) was born there; (3) It is named after the abolitionst Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier; and (4) The epicenter of the 1987 earthquake was in Whittier. My 'accent' comes from the fact that my mom is English and my dad is from Boston. I'm the first person in my family to go to college. I earned a B.A. in Economics and History from the University of California at Davis and an MA and PhD from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Economics. I am an environmental economist who focuses on survey research. Currently my research focuses on invasive weeds affecting New Mexican cattle ranchers, water infrastructure in Albquerque, and attitudes towards management of national forests in the Southwest. Call me Professor Thacher or Dr. Thacher but not Mrs. Thacher (I'll think that you are talking about my mom.)

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