Current Projects
CEnREP faculty engage in a wide variety of research and projects which receive external funding from a variety of sources. Listed below is a sample of recent externally funded projects. For more details on current research topics which CEnREP faculty are engaged in, please visit our research page.
Measuring Nutrient Reduction Benefits for Policy Analysis
This project is a collaborative effort between CEnREP faculty, economists at RTI International, and environmental scientists at Duke University. A framework will be developed that links environmental assessment models to non-market valuation methods. This framework will be used to provide the US Environmental Protection Agency with estimates of the recreational and residential benefits associated with reductions in nitrogen and phosphorous pollution into freshwater bodies. Understanding the benefits of improved water quality is a critical component for federal and state benefit/cost analysis of regulations designed to reduce nutrient loadings and improve national water quality.
This research is receiving support from the US Environmental Protection Agency. For more information, click here or contact Professor Dan Phaneuf, Principal Investigator.
Documenting Landscape Chnage in North Carolina: A Tool for Decision Makers
North Carolina is one of the fastest growing states in the nation. The increases in population and related development have been an enormous benefit to the economy of NC. However, this growth has also had negative impacts on NC’s natural resources and ecosystems, and has led to conflicts over natural resources among different interest groups. It is possible for communities to develop while protecting the amenities that make them desirable in the first place. However, growth in North Carolina has out-paced the abilities of many local jurisdictions to manage growth effectively. This project is addressing the information challenges faced by local governments in North Carolina that are concerned with growth and resultant changes in natural amenities, economics, and quality of life factors. An information tool that richly describes NC’s growth-induced land-use changes and links these changes to economic, demographic, and environmental quality factors at multiple scales. This type of information will provide rapidly growing jurisdictions the framework needed to make sound judgments based on a clear understanding of the relationship between patterns of growth and development, and commensurate economic and ecological costs and benefits
This project is receiving support from the Office of Extension, Engagement, and Economic Development at NCSU. For more information, click here or contact Professors Laura Taylor or Steve Smutko, Co-Principal Investigators.
Measuring the Benefits of Nutrient Management Strategies at North Carolina Reservoirs
This project will utilize a linked environmental assessment model with non-market valuation techniques to provide benefits estimates associated with recent nutrient management strategies for Jordan and Falls Lake that have been suggested by the NC Environmental Management Commission’s Division of Water Quality. Understanding the benefits of improved water quality in these two lakes is an important component of the fiscal analysis the Division of Water Quality must undertake of its proposed regulations.
This research is receiving support from the Water Resources Research Institute and the US Environmental Protection Agency. For more information, click here or contact Professor Roger von Haefen, Principal Investigator.
A Needs Assessment for Land-Use Research and Policy Analysis
Publicly available databases such as the University of Michigan’s Panel Study on Income Dynamics (PSID) have been invaluable tools for advancing our understanding of many important social policy questions. Over 2,000 articles have been published based on the PSID alone in 290 different journals, across fields such as economics, sociology and psychology. No such resource exists in the United States for researchers interested in land policy, where research needs detailed geospatial information as well as property transactions data. This project will explore the potential for developing just such a resource, at a national scale.
This research is receiving support from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. For more information, click here or contact Professor Laura Taylor, Principal Investigator.
