PhD, Economics

MS, Economics, Environment & Natural Resources

BS, Economics

BS, Biology

Aaron is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Alaska Pacific University. He specializes in environmental and natural resource economics, with a particular emphasis on wildlife and outdoor recreation applications. Aaron has researched the economics of wildlife conservation, bear viewing, salmon fishing, birdwatching, sea otter management, and national park visitation, to name a few.

Prior to starting at APU, Aaron worked as a Research Economist for the U.S. Geological Survey, where he led an economic research agenda broadly centered around public land and resource management. While at USGS, Aaron developed multiple federal partnerships, including with the National Park Service, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Aaron’s journey originally started at the University of Wyoming, where he majored in both economics and biology as an undergrad. His love for both fields led him down an interdisciplinary path, and to this day he incorporates elements of both human and natural systems in his work. Aaron went on to get his PhD in economics from Wyoming, with his dissertation on the economics of human-grizzly bear interactions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. He then took a job as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where he focused on various Alaska applications. For example, he modeled the demand for salmon dipnetting trips in Southcentral Alaska and developed surveys tracking changes to subsistence harvests and lifestyles in remote Alaska communities.

Aaron is passionate about teaching people how to think like an economist, in part by demonstrating how broadly applicable economic tools can be. He has been an instructor for the Economics Department at the University of Wyoming, as well as for the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.

In his free time, Aaron loves spending time outside with his family, including camping, biking, fishing, and cross country skiing. He is also a big sports fan, particularly of soccer, football, and tennis.