Emily J Pindilli, Ph.D.
Biography
Emily Pindilli is the lead for the Natural Resource Economics theme at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Science and Decisions Center in Reston, Virginia. Dr. Pindilli has nearly fifteen years of experience specializing in economic and policy analysis to support energy and environmental projects. Since joining USGS in 2012, she focuses on a diverse portfolio of environmental and informational economics research topics including: the value of scientific data; ecosystem services assessment and valuation; methods to integrate multi-disciplinary analyses to support land use decision-making; lifecycle analyses of resource development and conservation; and environmental markets. Dr. Pindilli is highly interested in innovative approaches to non-market valuation and using economics as a framework to conduct integrated analyses.
Recently, Dr. Pindilli completed a primer on biodiversity and habitat markets (see here). She is currently pursuing research on quantification tools and enabling information to support biodiversity and habitat markets. Dr. Pindilli has ongoing work looking at the value of the USGS streamgage network. This includes considering the users and benefits of streamflow information for engineering, recreation, and water consumption. She is the leading economist on a project assessing the ecosystem services and values associated with the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge which includes the analysis of recreation, carbon sequestration, wildfire mitigation, and flood avoidance (see here). She is conducting similar work at the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. She is a co-PI for a study on the Chesapeake Bay watershed focusing on floodplain ecosystem services and recently initiated similar work for the Delaware River Watershed. She is working with other USGS scientists to advance the development of the Multi-Resource Analysis. Dr. Pindilli's graduate research included an economic analysis of the costs of agricultural best management practices and the potential for nutrient trading in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (see here). Her work is focused on integrated ecologic-economic analyses and incorporating the social and earth sciences into decision-making.
Prior to joining USGS, Dr. Pindilli conducted simillar work in the private sector. She spent a number of years focused on conventional and unconventional energy development, economics, and environmental impacts including the evaluation of U.S. reliance on oil imports, compatibility of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and policy analysis of oil shale and other unconventional fuels. Dr. Pindilli provided economic and environmental science analytical support for the Interagency Task Force on Strategic Unconventional Fuels. She also worked on projects related to the sustainability of biofuels, solar and wind power generation issues, and shale gas regulatory issues. Dr. Pindilli later focued on transportation related issues including a benefit-cost analysis for the DOT Intelligent Transportation Systems AERIS Program to evaluate the potential environmental benefits of connected vehicle applications (see here). Dr. Pindilli also conducted an alternative and cost-benefit analysis of USGS’s moderate resolution geospatial data program (Landsat).
EDUCATION:
PhD Environmental Policy; Environmental Economics focus
George Mason University, Fairfax VA
MS Environmental Science and Policy
George Mason University, Fairfax VA
BA Economics
James Madison University, Harrisonburg VA
Science and Products
Recreational Birdwatching and Habitat
Thousands of visitors flock to the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge every year to look for birds both rare and common. Birdwatching activities contribute to economic activity for the Nisqually area and play a role in the broader outdoor-loving culture of the Pacific Northwest. The refuge has kept detailed records of how birds are using the different habitats within the refuge...
Fisheries and Fish Habitat
The estuarine habitat of the Delta is critical to the production of salmon, which supports recreational, commercial, and subsistence fishing. The combination of shaded pools, shallow reaches, and a rich prey population provide excellent feeding grounds for juvenile fish. Fishing also holds great importance in the cultural practices of the Nisqually Tribe.
Marsh Elevation Change and Carbon Sequestration
Tidal marsh vegetation grows in a narrow elevation zone between sea level and the upland behind it. These plant communities have evolved to accumulate sediment over time and maintain their relative elevation with gradual rates of change in sea level. It is uncertain which marsh vegetation communities will be able to accumulate sediment at a rate that keeps pace with accelerated sea level rise...
An Ecosystem Services Assessment of the Nisqually River Delta, South Puget Sound, Washington
Overview of Nisqually River Delta ecosystem services modeling
Employing an Ecosystem Services Framework to Deliver Decision Ready Science
By Vivian Nolan
Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed
Floodplain and wetland areas provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining sediments, nutrients, and floodwaters. The loss of floodplain functionality due to land use conversion and degradation reduces the provisioning of these services. Assessing, quantifying, and valuing floodplain ecosystem services provide a framework to estimate how floodplain...
Supporting natural resource-management decisions—The role of economics at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)—2018 DOI Economics Training Workshop
The second U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Economics Training Workshop (hereafter “Workshop”) was held during September 25–27, 2018, in Washington, D.C., to identify, highlight, and better understand needs and opportunities for economic analysis to support DOI’s mission. Building on the first workshop in 2017, the second Workshop, jointly...
Alhassan, Mustapha; Pindilli, Emily J.; Crowley, Christian S.L.; Shapiro, Carl D.; Simon, Benjamin M.
Economic valuation of health benefits from using geologic data to communicate radon risk potential
Background: Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer worldwide and represents a major health concern within and outside the United States. Mitigating exposure to radon is especially critical in places with high rates of tobacco smoking (e.g., Kentucky, USA), as radon-induced lung cancer is markedly greater among people exposed to...
Chiavacci, Scott J.; Shapiro, Carl D.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Casey, Clyde F.; Rayens, Mary Kay; Wiggins, Amanda T.; Andrews, William M.; Hahn, Ellen J.
Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative summary report
Federal agencies need credible scientific information to determine the production and value of ecosystem services in an efficient and timely manner. The U.S. Geological Survey addresses this scientific information need through the Sustaining Environmental Capital Initiative project. The project has relied on U.S. Geological Survey expertise...
Huber, Christopher; Meldrum, James R.; Schuster, Rudy M.; Ancona, Zachary H.; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Beck, Scott M.; Carlisle, Daren; Claggett, Peter R.; Franco, Fabiano; Galbraith, Heather S.; Haefele, Michelle; Hoelting, Kristin R; Hogan, Dianna M.; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Kern, Tim; Lawrence, Collin B.; Lischka, Stacy; Loomis, John B.; Mueller, Julie M.; Noe, Gregory B.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Quay, Brian; Semmens, Darius J.; Sinclair, Wilson; Spooner, Daniel E.; Voigt, Brian; St. John White, Barabara Trends in biodiversity and habitat quantification tools used for market‐based conservation in the United States
Market-based conservation mechanisms are designed to facilitate conservation and mitigation actions for habitat and biodiversity. Their potential is partly hindered, however, by issues surrounding the quantification tools used to assess habitat quality and functionality. Specifically, a lack of transparency and standardization in tool...
Chiavacci, Scott J.; Pindilli, Emily J.
Multi-resource analysis: A proof of concept study of natural resource tradeoffs in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, using the net resources assessment (NetRA) decision support tool
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing a multi-resource analysis (MRA) line of products to inform land-use decision makers. Specifically, MRA products will integrate scientific information, include considerations for natural resource interrelations, and quantify the effects of resource management decisions in biophysical...
Bernknopf, Richard; Broadbent, Craig; Adhikari, Dadhi; Mamun, Saleh; Tidwell, Vince; Babis, Christopher; Pindilli, Emily J. Employing an ecosystem services framework to deliver decision ready science
Public land managers have limited information to allow for the integration and balancing of multiple objectives in land management decisions including the social (cultural and health), economic (monetary and nonmonetary), and environmental aspects. In this article, we document an approach to consider the many facets of decision making by...
Pindilli, Emily J.; Hogan, Dianna M.; Zhu, Zhiliang
Demonstrating the value of Earth observations—methods, practical applications, and solutions—group on Earth observations side event proceedings
Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the European Association for Remote Sensing Companies, and the European Space Agency in coordination with the GEOValue Community hosted a side event to the Group on Earth Observations Plenary on October 23–24, 2017, in Washington, D.C. The workshop,...
Pearlman, Francoise; Lawrence, Collin B.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Geppi, Denna; Shapiro, Carl D.; Grasso, Monica; Pearlman, Jay; Adkins, Jeffery; Sawyer, Geoff; Tassa, Alessandra
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain aquifers—An engine for economic activity
U.S. Geological Survey science supports groundwater resource management in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain region. The USGS Science and Decisions Center is working with the Water Availability and Use Science Program to integrate economics into a sophisticated model of groundwater in the region. The model will quantify the status of the groundwater...
Alhassan, Mustapha; Lawrence, Collin B.; Richardson, Steven; Pindilli, Emily J. Valuation of the flood attenuation ecosystem service in Difficult Run, VA, USA
Floodplains and riparian wetlands provide several ecosystem services that directly benefit people. We present a methodology for valuing the flood attenuation ecosystem service in Difficult Run, a suburban watershed with extensive natural floodplains in northern Virginia. High-resolution lidar-derived data were...
Lawrence, Collin B.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Hogan, Dianna M. Estimating the societal benefits of carbon dioxide sequestration through peatland restoration
The Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDS) is a forested peatland that provides a number of ecosystem services including carbon (C) sequestration. We modeled and analyzed the potential capacity of the GDS to sequester C under four management scenarios: no management, no management with catastrophic fire, current management, and...
Pindilli, Emily J.; Sleeter, Rachel; Hogan, Dianna M. Terrestrial wetlands
1. The assessment of terrestrial wetland carbon stocks has improved greatly since the First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (CCSP 2007) because of recent national inventories and the development of a U.S. soils database. Terrestrial wetlands in North America encompass an estimated 2.2 million km2, which constitutes about 37% of the global wetland...
Kolka, Randall; Trettin, Carl; Tang, Wenwu; Krauss, Ken W.; Bansal, Sheel; Drexler, Judith Z.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Chimner, Rodney A.; Hogan, Dianna M.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Benscoter, Brian; Tangen, Brian; Kane, Evan S.; Bridgham, Scott D.; Richardson, Curtis J.
Multi-Resource Analysis—Methodology and synthesis
This document introduces the Multi-Resource Analysis (MRA), a set of products that are being designed to integrate information on multiple natural resources in a region, combine that information with models of resource interrelationships and scenarios of change, and provide meaningful insights on the implications of those...
Jenni, Karen E.; Pindilli, Emily J.; Bernknopf, Richard; Nieman, Timothy L.; Shapiro, CarlPre-USGS Publications
Floodplain Ecosystem Service Mapper Released
The Floodplain Ecosystem Service Mapper is a web application that displays field site data and lidar-derived floodplain and stream channel geomorphic metrics in the Delaware River and Chesapeake Bay watersheds.
Employing an Ecosystem Services Framework to Deliver Decision Ready Science
In the November 25th issue of Advances in Ecological and Environmental Research, the Science and Decisions Center has an article entitled "Employing an Ecosystem Services Framework to Deliver Decision Ready Science". Written by Emily Pindilli, Dianna Hogan, and Zhiliang Zhu.