Bio for new staff member: Dr Suzie Greenhalgh

News Release

22 May 2007

Bio for new staff member: Dr Suzie Greenhalgh, senior economist

Dr Suzie Greenhalgh has joined the Crown Research Institute Landcare Research as a senior economist. Her work will include helping develop market-based mechanisms for ecosystem services (the free environmental functions that nature provides). She will also assess the economic and environmental impacts of various policy options for climate change mitigation actions in agriculture.

This work will help regional and local authorities and other land managers improve the quality of New Zealand resources such as water and climate, and meet any additional environmental regulatory requirements.

Before joining Landcare Research Suzie worked at the World Resources Institute, an environmental policy think-tank in Washington. There she worked on a variety of issues including performance mechanisms such as nutrient trading and reverse auctions, for improving water quality. She also developed accounting and reporting guidelines for greenhouse gas reduction projects for companies and project developers.

As well as this she looked at US agricultural policy on water quality, biofuels and climate change; and assessing the economic and environmental costs and benefits of biofuel production for US agriculture. She also made economic valuations of coral reefs in the Caribbean.

Earlier in her career, Suzie worked as a soil researcher for the New South Wales Department of Agriculture in her native Australia, and on environmental benefits and costs of hydropower development in Laos for NorConsult (a Norwegian consulting company).

Suzie has a PhD in Resource Economics from Ohio State University, USA; an undergraduate degree in Agricultural Science (Natural Resource Management) from the University of Queensland, Australia; and graduate degrees in Rural Science and Economics from the University of New England, Australia and Ohio State University.

Suzie says moving to a country that’s a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and without agricultural subsidies is ‘a real turnaround.’

‘I believe there are great opportunities to achieve real environmental change in New Zealand,’ Suzie says.

ENDS

Landcare Research
http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz

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