Aaron J Enriquez, PhD
Aaron Enriquez is a Research Economist in the Social and Economic Analysis Branch at the USGS Fort Collins Science Center. Aaron specializes in environmental and natural resource economics, including nonmarket valuation and bioeconomic modeling. His main areas of research are the economics of wildlife and outdoor recreation.
Wildlife Economics
Wildlife economics can help us better understand, and sometimes even quantify, the various relationships between humans and wildlife species. Moreover, this research can help uncover key insights about socially optimal management of wildlife species, which is especially important in rapidly changing environments and conditions.
Research Highlight: How much is that grizzly in the window?
Wildlife viewing, pristine ecosystems, photogenic landscapes – how would you convey the economic value of the seemingly priceless resources that National Parks provide? While it can be difficult to put a value on nonmarket goods and services, in a new study, economists from the National Park Service and USGS developed an approach for doing just that with bears.
Economics of Outdoor Recreation
Planning and managing outdoor recreation on public land and water entails a series of choices, many of which are economic in nature. Economics is useful for informing a wide range of decision-making processes in the context of outdoor recreation management.
Aaron is particularly interested in research on the links between economic and ecological systems. He has worked on many environmental and natural resource applications, including quantifying the recreation value generated by National Park Service sites, determining people's willingness to pay to conserve wildlife in and around protected areas, estimating the economic benefits people obtain from wildlife viewing, and examining how people's risk perceptions influence their behaviors toward wildlife and pests.
Aaron's passion for environmental and natural resource research stems from an interdisciplinary background. He has received a B.S. in Biology, a B.S. in Economics, an M.S. in Economics, Environment and Natural Resources, and a Ph.D. in Economics. As a graduate student, Aaron studied human-grizzly bear interactions in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As a postdoc, he estimated the nonmarket value of Alaska salmon using fishing permit data.
Science and Products
Economic Impacts of Public Lands Management
Economics of Outdoor Recreation
Wildlife Economics
Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
Science and Products
Economic Impacts of Public Lands Management
Economics of Outdoor Recreation
Wildlife Economics
Social and Economic Analysis (SEA) Branch