Benjamin A. Jones, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Economics
​University of New Mexico

​Office: Travelstead B30 
​Phone: (505) 277-5304
Email: bajones@unm.edu
I'm an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of New Mexico (UNM) and I have faculty affiliations at the University of Oklahoma (National Institute for Risk and Resilience), the UNM Water Resources Program, and the UNM Sustainability Studies Program. ​I also currently serve on the Editorial Council for the Journal of Environmental Economics & Management.

I specialize in environmental and natural resource economics with a particular emphasis on the epidemiological and health dimensions of environmental economics. ​

​My research focuses on the economic connections between nature, human health, and well-being. I'm interested in understanding how changes in pollution exposures caused by shocks to ecosystem services impact human health and welfare and how such information can inform resource management and policy. I see this work as contributing to the broader interdisciplinary literature on environmental and ecosystem determinants of health and social welfare in coupled human and natural systems. 

​Two methods I primarily use in my work are: (i) modern causal inference econometric techniques, and; (ii) theoretical dynamic optimization models and numerical simulations. For (i), I exploit instances of natural or quasi-experiments using modern applied econometrics to credibly investigate relationships between nature, human health, and well-being. For (ii), I construct and numerically simulate bioeconomic-health models of coupled human and natural systems to dynamically study optimal environmental and natural resource management in the presence of human health externalities.  

My work has been discussed by The Los Angeles Times, The Associated Press (AP), The Guardian, ScienceDaily, Nature Sustainability research highlights, National Affairs magazine, and FoxBusiness.com.  

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS [full list available here]:
  • Jones, B.A. (2020). "After the Dust Settles: The Infant Health Impacts of Dust Storms." Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 7(6): 1005-1032.
  • Jones, B.A. and S. McDermott. (2018). "The Economics of Urban Afforestation: Insights from an Integrated Bioeconomic-Health Model."  Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 89: 116-135.
  • Jones, B.A., R. Berrens, H. Jenkins-Smith, C. Silva, J. Ripberger, D. Carlson, K. Gupta, and W. Wehde.  (2018). "In Search of an Inclusive Approach: Measuring Non-market Values for the Effects of Complex Dam, Hydroelectric and River System Operations." Energy Economics 69: 225-236.
  • ​​Jones, B.A. (2017). "Are We Underestimating the Economic Costs of Wildfire Smoke? An Investigation Using the Life Satisfaction Approach." Journal of Forest Economics 27: 80-90.   
  • Jones, B.A. (2017). "Invasive Species Impacts on Human Well-Being Using the Life Satisfaction Index." Ecological Economics 134: 250-257.
  • Jones, B.A. (2017). "The Social Health Costs of Uranium Mining in the US Colorado Plateau Cohort, 1960-2005." International Journal of Public Health 62(4): 471-478.​
Areas of Research Interest:
Urban Trees and Human Health
Invasive Species Management and Health Economic Impacts
Water Resources and Management
Economic Impacts of Wildfire Smoke
Water Quality, Availability, and Health