Grant McDermott

I am an assistant professor of economics at the University of Oregon. My research fields are environmental and resource economics, which means that I study the interactions between human and natural systems. Broadly speaking, I am interested in questions like:

• How do changes in environmental conditions affect the economy, and vice versa?
• How should societies manage their natural resources when they are faced with uncertainty?
• Do environmental policies function as intended, or are there unexpected consequences?

While there are important theoretical components to these questions, my work is mostly empirical. I rely on a mix of tools that includes classical econometrics, Bayesian methods, geospatial computation, and newer data science tools like machine learning.

Alongside my regular research, I spend quite a lot time thinking about how to promote better coding practices among social scientists (including, most of all, myself). I am an advocate for open and reproducible science, as well as open-source software.

Education

• Master of Science - MS Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) (2009 — 2011)
• Master of Science - MS CEMS - The Global Alliance in Management Education (2011 — 2011)
• Business Science University of Cape Town (2001 — 2005)
• University of Cape Town
  Business Science, Business and Economics