ARE PhD students Stuart Morrison and Ignacio Oliva each presented ongoing work as a part of the 3rd Year Prospectus Brown Bag series, which allows ARE students to workshop the ideas that will (or may) make up their prospectus. 

Stuart's work presents a new method to estimate the resource costs of fossil-fuel generators. The benefits of policies that enable renewable electricity mostly accrue from displacing these costs. However, these costs are often confidential and not directly revealed through market offers. Stuart's work introduces a revealed preference approach of estimating these costs, considering the dynamic nature of generator decision-making.

Ignacio's work focuses on the economics of biodiversity loss and ecosystem service provision. Climate change is anticipated to be a significant driver of biodiversity loss, with potentially severe economic consequences due to the subsequent decline in ecosystem services. Nevertheless, research quantifying the economic costs associated with climate-induced biodiversity loss remains limited. Ignacio's work aims to address that gap by estimating the economic impacts of biodiversity loss. Focusing on a specific location and ecosystem services, Ignacio will utilize a species richness index as a proxy for biodiversity and analyze its influence on ecosystem service provision through panel data. The primary parameter to estimate is the elasticity of substitution between biodiversity and other ecological factors, such as soil. Additionally, he will calibrate a damage function to evaluate the economic costs of future climate-related biodiversity loss. This research will offer essential insights for policymakers in regions experiencing increased environmental stress.