​Benjamin A. Jones, Ph.D.
Regents' Lecturer​ & Associate Professor
Graduate Director
​Department of Economics
​The University of New Mexico
[email protected]
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​Department page: https://tinyurl.com/bajecon​
I'm a Regents' Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Graduate Director 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 currently serve on the Editorial Council for the
Journal of Environmental Economics & Management and I'm a committee member of the AERE Scholars Program. I'm also the lead author of "Energy Use in Bitcoin Mining: The Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrencies" from Routledge Press.

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. ​
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​My work has been discussed by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Associated Press (AP), CBS News, The Guardian, and Popular Science magazine.  

​SELECTED PUBLICATIONS [full list available here]:
  • Jones, B.A., A. Goodkind, and R. Berrens. (2022). “Economic Estimation of Bitcoin Mining’s Climate Damages Demonstrates Closer Resemblance to Digital Crude than Digital Gold” Scientific Reports 12:14512.
  • 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.
  • Goodkind, A., Jones, B.A., and R. Berrens. (2020). "Cryptodamages: Monetary Value Estimates of the Air Pollution and Human Health Impacts of Cryptocurrency Mining." Energy Research & Social Science 59: 101281.
  • 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.
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BBC World News interview on the environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining ​(May 13, 2021)