Laura Bakkensen, Ph.D.

laurabakkensen@email.arizona.edu


Associate Professor

University of Arizona

Year of PhD: 2014

Country: United States (Arizona)

About Me:

I am an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona’s School of Government and Public Policy. I utilize applied microeconomic and econometric techniques to study the economics of natural disasters, identifying current hazard risks and evidence of adaptation to hurricane damages and fatalities across the globe. Using an interdisciplinary Tropical Cyclone Integrated Assessment Model, I quantify the impacts of climate and socioeconomic change on disaster losses. My research informs policy on insurance regulation, post-disaster aid, hurricane warnings, and public adaptation projects. I received my Ph.D. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from Yale University and my M.Sc. in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics. In 2017, I was awarded a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Early-Career Research Fellowship. I was previously a visiting researcher at the Euro-Mediterranean Center for Climate Change in Venice, Italy and received a Fulbright Teaching Grant to South Korea.

Research Interests

Environmental Policy

Energy And Climate Policy

Public Policy

Economics

Natural Disasters

Natural Hazard

Uncertainty And Risk