Professor, Director of Environmental Program

Dr. Brendan Fisher is Professor at the University of Vermont. His research and fieldwork lie at the nexus of conservation, development, natural resource economics, and human behavior. He is the author with colleagues of two books, Valuing Ecosystem Services (Earthscan, London, 2008) and A Field Guide to Economics for Conservationists (Roberts and Company, 2015). Brendan teaches courses on sustainability science, behavioral economics, environmental/ecological economics, and ecosystem management.

His field research has been undertaken in Borneo, Cambodia, Colombia, Mozambique, and Tanzania. He was a Rockefeller Bellagio Fellow working on relationships between the ecological conditions of coastal regions, gender inequality, and childhood health. In 2021-2022, he was a Fulbright Fellow in Spain working on changing socio-ecological conditions and ecosystem services in the Spanish Pyrenees. When he’s not working he spends most of his time enjoying the Vermont outdoors with his wife and three children.

Publications

Books

  • Fisher, B., R. Naidoo, T.H. Ricketts. (2015). A Field Guide to Economics for Conservationists. Roberts and Company Publishers, Greenwood Village, CO.
  • Turner, R. K., S. Georgiou, B. Fisher. (2008). Valuing Ecosystem Services: the case of multifuncitonal wetlands. London, Earthscan.

Recent Journal Articles

  • Byerly, H., D'Amato, A.W., Hagenbuch, S., Fisher, B.  Conservation Science, & Practice. (2019). Social influence and forest habitat conservation: Experimental evidence from Vermont's maple producers. e98.
  • Bradbury, RB., SHM Butchart, B Fisher, FMR Hughes, L Ingwall-King, ... Nature Sustainability. (2022).The economic consequences of conserving or restoring sites for nature  4 (7), 602-608.
  • Fisher, B., Herrera, D., Adams, D., Fox, H. E., Gallagher, L., Gerkey, D., . . . Johnson, K. J. T. Lancet Planetary Health. (2019). Can nature deliver on the sustainable development goals? , 3(3), e112-e113.
  • Huang, G., Zhou, W., Qian, Y., & Fisher, B. Science of the Total Environment. (2019). Breathing the same air? Socioeconomic disparities in PM2. 5 exposure and the potential benefits from air filtration. 657, 619-626.
  • Naidoo, R., Gerkey, D., Hole, D., Pfaff, A., Ellis, A., Golden, C., . . . Ricketts, T., Fisher, B.  Science Advances (2019). Evaluating the impacts of protected areas on human well-being across the developing world. 5(4), eaav3006.
  • Rasolofoson, R. A., Hanauer, M. M., Pappinen, A., Fisher, B., & Ricketts, T. H. Science Advances (2018). Impacts of forests on children’s diet in rural areas across 27 developing countries. 4(8), eaat2853.
  • Byerly, H, A Balmford, PJ Ferraro, C Hammond Wagner, E Palchak, S Polasky, TH Ricketts, A Schwartz, and B Fisher. In press. “Nudging Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence and Opportunities.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
  • Balmford, A, L Cole, C Sandbrook, and B Fisher. 2017. “A Response to O’Byrne et Al.” Biological Conservation.
  • Herrera, D, A Ellis, B Fisher, CD Golden, K Johnson, M Mulligan, A Pfaff, T Treuer, and TH Ricketts. 2017. “Upstream Watershed Condition Predicts Rural Children’s Health across 35 Developing Countries.” Nature Communications 8 (1): 811.
  • Balmford, A, L Cole, C Sandbrook, and B Fisher. 2017. “The Environmental Footprints of Conservationists, Economists and Medics Compared.” Biological Conservation 214 (Supplement C): 260–69.
  • Byerly, H, and B Fisher. 2017. “Studying Human Behavior for Species Conservation.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15 (8): 419–419.
  • Fisher, B, D Herrera, D Adams, HE Fox, DA Gill, CD Golden, M Mulligan, et al. 2017. “Effect of Coastal Marine Protection on Childhood Health: An Exploratory Study.” The Lancet, Inaugural Planetary Health/GeoHealth Annual Meeting, 389 (Supplement 2): S8.
  • Ricketts, TH, D Hererra, A Ellis, and B Fisher. 2017. “Watersheds, Forests, and Childhood Health: Global Relationships and Policy Opportunities.” The Lancet, Inaugural Planetary Health/GeoHealth Annual Meeting, 389 (Supplement 2): S17.
  • Fisher, B, R Naidoo, J Guernier, K Johnson, D Mullins, D Robinson, and EH Allison. 2017. “Integrating Fisheries and Agricultural Programs for Food Security.” Agriculture & Food Security 6 (January): 1.

Associations and Affiliations

Brendan Fisher

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Instructional programs: Environmental Studies, Sustainability, Ecology and Policy
Research: Ecosystem services, ecological/environmental economics, natural resource management, poverty & human health, behavioral economics & sustainability

Education

  • PhD, 2006, Natural Resources, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT
  • MSc, 2001, Geography, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  • BSc, 1998, Civil Engineering, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

Contact

Email:

brendan.fisher@uvm.edu

Phone:
  • 802 656-0351
Office Location:

105A Johnson House, 617 Main St.

Website(s):
  1. Economics, Conservation and Other Stuff (ECOS) Lab
  2. Environmental Program