URI environmental economists awarded national grants

KINGSTON, R.I. -- June 19, 2000 -- One faculty member and one graduate student in the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island have been nationally recognized with grants to fund their research.

Research Assistant Professor Marisa Mazzotta was awarded a $75,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, while graduate student Dana Bauer received a Switzer Foundation Environmental Fellowship.

Charlestown resident Mazzotta's grant will enable her to study how economists can link with other disciplines to further the study of ecosystem management and environmental policy. Her grant is through the NSF Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education program, which is designed to increase the participation, prominence and influence of women in science and engineering by funding significant research at a critical career stage.

Bauer's $13,000 fellowship is designed to further the research and education of students who are working toward improving the quality of the natural environment. Applicants for Switzer Fellowships are evaluated based on their commitment to environmental problem solving and their potential for initiating environmental change.

A resident of Newport, Bauer will spend her one-year fellowship developing a proposal for her doctoral dissertation and continuing her research into public preferences for rural land use. She is currently conducting a survey of residents in four rural communities in Rhode Island to assess the trade-offs they are willing to make to preserve the rural character of their towns and how much they are willing to pay to protect that character.

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For Information: Todd McLeish 874-7892