THE COURSE:
This course entails the application of microeconomic analysis to coastal environmental problems and explores the underlying economic basis for the formation of coastal and marine policies.  An interdisciplinary perspective will be coupled with formal economic analysis throughout the entire course.  Economic theories of firm and individual behavior will be used to develop formal models of coastal development, commercial and recreational fishing, fish population dynamics, aquaculture, and the ecological services provided by wetlands.  These formal models will provide insights into questions related to: a) the sustainability of fish populations given commercial and recreational demands, b) the optimal amount of public wetlands, c) the ideal amount of coastal development, and d) the link between land use-water quality-and marine populations.  Class meetings will be devoted to discussing articles from journals with a marine or environmental focus including; Ecological Economics, Water Resource Economics, Fisheries Research, and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.  A number of guest lectures by economists and policy makers in the marine field are planned.  Upon completion of this course students will be able to critically evaluate journal articles and conduct economic analysis of coastal and marine policy.  Student evaluation will be based on class participation, several short analysis papers, and a final examination.

2) Presentation (20%) - The last week of the semester will be reserved for individual power point presentations.  This presentation will present the results of your literature review and the composition of your website.

3) Literature Review and Web Site (40%) - You will complete a comprehensive literature review of your particular field of inquiry.  You will be expected to find the latest research and summarize it for the class and present your findings on a website that you will construct as part of the course web site.

4) Take Home Exam (20%) - You will be asked to formally model one particular question from your topic of choice.  For example, maybe you are looking at marine pollution.  You will want to present and use the appropriate economic model for analyzing the problem of marine pollution.