Sean D’Evelyn, assistant professor of economics, studies invasive species management and environmental public goods. He has authored or co-authored papers on methods to prevent or control invasive species and plants, the global pathways of invasive species movement, and the allocation of publicly funded research grants.
He was interviewed by LMU Magazine editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch on the economics of invasive species management.
Interview highlight:
How does one apply economics to the issue of dealing with invasive species?
Economics as a discipline is primarily about what you do when you can’t have everything. You’ve got to make important trade-offs. So, applying economic principles to specific environmental topics, like invasive species, is not so surprising: How much effort do we spend trying to prevent the arrival of an invasive species? What are effective tools to help protect the environment that are also cost-effective? At what point is a quarantine policy too burdensome? What is the best way to weigh prevention vs. control. Good data and good analytics can help people make the right policy for all of us.
