Forest Policy: Impacts on Energy and Climate

Dr. Joseph Maher’s research focuses on energy-efficiency policy, valuation of ecosystem services, and issues at the intersection of forestry and climate change. Much of his work involves econometric analysis using detailed spatial datasets—applied at the global scale to assess policies in tropical forests and applied at the local scale to value services from urban trees. In addition, Joe’s work on the energy-efficiency gap evaluates policy cost-effectiveness and return on investment across new technologies. While at SESYNC, Joe was the principal investigator of the project, Energy Efficiency Policy and Tree Shade, which aimed to find empirical evidence for whether shade trees provide direct energy savings to residential homes in Gainesville, Florida. His past work also includes non-market valuation studies of stream restorations, hiking/biking trails, and public transit improvements. Joe received his PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2015; his MS in Agricultural and Resource Economics, also from the University of Maryland, in 2014; and his BA in Political Science, for which he graduated summa cum laude, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County in 2007. Following his time at SESYNC, he accepted a position as an environmental economist at the Government Accountability Office.