Margaret A. Walls
Senior Fellow; Director, Climate Risks and Resilience Program; Director, Environmental Justice Initiative
Margaret Walls is a senior fellow and director of the Climate Risks and Resilience Program and the Environmental Justice Initiative, as well as cohost of RFF’s podcast, Resources Radio.
Walls’s research focuses on the impacts of extreme weather, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires on people and communities and the design of programs and policies to equitably enhance resilience to such events. She has written about the benefits of natural infrastructure, such as coastal wetlands and riparian buffers, in reducing flood damages and the evaluation of conservation investment decisions in floodplains and coastal zones. She has also evaluated the role of information and disclosure in driving household location decisions in the context of both wildfire and flood risks. In current research, she is focusing on environmental justice challenges associated with wastewater systems in rural communities facing sea level rise and working in partnership with underserved communities to find ways to invest in natural infrastructure to address coastal flooding. She has also conducted an evaluation of the federal government’s implementation of the Justice40 directive, the movement to ensure that 40 percent of the benefits of federal climate and energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities. Walls organized and hosted the six-part environmental justice webinar series at RFF, Exposure, in 2021-2022.
Walls has published widely in peer-reviewed journals on a range of natural resource and environmental issues and is the author of 36 book chapters and published reports. She is a Features Coeditor of the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, a flagship journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. She is a member of the advisory board of Cityscape and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research, a member of the advisory board for the Washington DC Environmental Justice and Racial Equity (EJRE) Assessment Tool, and a former board member of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
Education
- PhD in economics, University of California at Santa Barbara, 1988
- BS in agricultural economics, University of Kentucky, 1981
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Resources Magazine — Oct 4, 2023
As Sea Levels Rise, So Does Wastewater
Sea level rise poses a threat for waste disposal infrastructure. In houses with septic systems, rising wastewater can cause unhygienic overflows and system failures. More funding and community involvement can help address this expensive, growing problem.
Working Paper — Jun 1, 2023
Risk Disclosure and Home Prices: Evidence from California Wildfire Hazard Zones
Risk Disclosure and Home Prices: Evidence from California Wildfire Hazard Zones
Working Paper — May 4, 2023
Jobs at Risk: Sea Level Rise, Coastal Flooding, and Local Economies
This study assesses the exposure of local economies to tidal flooding in the Chesapeake Bay region, finding that nearly 50% more jobs will be exposed to 100-year flooding in 2050.
Environmental Justice Series — Jun 17, 2021
Environmental Justice: Climate Impacts, Adaptation, and Resilience
Environmental Justice: Climate Impacts, Adaptation, and Resilience
Journal Article — Feb 1, 2024
Risk Disclosure and Home Prices: Evidence from California Wildfire Hazard Zones
Risk Disclosure and Home Prices: Evidence from California Wildfire Hazard Zones
Report — Jan 22, 2024
Implementation of Justice40: Challenges, Opportunities, and a Status Update
This report takes stock of Justice40 implementation by assessing the program's challenges and opportunities and tracking progress across 445 programs.
Explainer — Dec 13, 2023
Flooding in the United States 102: Policy and Solutions
This explainer details several policy tools aimed at reducing our communities' exposure and vulnerability to flood risk.
Explainer — Sep 26, 2023
Flooding in the United States 101: Causes, Trends, and Impacts
This explainer details the causes, trends, and impacts of flooding in the United States.
Environmental Justice Series — Mar 6, 2024
Environmental Justice: Taking Stock of Justice40
A virtual event exploring the implementation of Justice40, the US federal government's largest environmental justice initiative
RFF Live — Oct 12, 2022
Sparking Solutions: Reducing Risk at the Wildland-Urban Interface
On Wednesday, October 12, Resources for the Future (RFF) hosted the second RFF Live event in the “Sparking Solutions” webinar series, where we discussed the benefits and challenges of addressing the WUI problem.
Environmental Justice Series — Mar 24, 2022
Environmental Justice: Screening Tools, EJ Indexes, and Justice40
Understanding the uses of EJ screening tools—and the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches—for Justice40 and similar programs
Environmental Justice Series — Jan 19, 2022
Environmental Justice: Research and Community Partnerships
Examining how researchers and environmental justice organizations can advance knowledge and work toward equitable solutions to environmental problems
Resources Magazine — Oct 4, 2023
As Sea Levels Rise, So Does Wastewater
Sea level rise poses a threat for waste disposal infrastructure. In houses with septic systems, rising wastewater can cause unhygienic overflows and system failures. More funding and community involvement can help address this expensive, growing problem.
Common Resources — Sep 27, 2023
Financing Investments in Climate Resilience: A New Approach
A new federal loan program provides support for projects that improve the resilience of communities in dealing with the effects of climate change.
Common Resources — May 4, 2023
Climate-Smart Economies: Coordinating Economic Development with Resilience Planning
Coordinating policies that spur job creation and improve community resilience can help mitigate the impacts of climate change on local infrastructure, jobs, and economies in the Chesapeake Bay region.
Common Resources — Mar 16, 2023
How Do Wildfires Affect Local Economies?
Wildfires are becoming more common, yet few studies explore the effects of fires on local economies. New research from RFF scholars Margaret Walls and Matthew Wibbenmeyer investigates how wildfires affect employment growth rates in nearby communities.
Media Highlight — Nov 27, 2023
The Bay Journal: “More Coastal Land along the Bay Could Get Federal ‘Protection’"
RFF Senior Fellow Margaret Walls shares her thoughts on how changes to the Coastal Barriers Resources System will affect the Chesapeake region.
Press Release — Aug 14, 2023
Western US Wildfire Smoke Costs $2.3 Billion per Year in Health Impacts and Lost Enjoyment
A new working paper, published by scholars at RFF and the University of Alaska Anchorage, finds that camping trips to public lands are worth $107 less on average if they are affected by wildfire smoke.
Media Highlight — Jul 28, 2023
National Parks Traveler: "National Park System Expansion is Key to Biodiversity Protection"
RFF Senior Fellows Margaret Walls and Rebecca Epanchin-Niell are referenced in this article about the importance of natural landscapes for species conservation.
Media Highlight — Jun 9, 2023
Semafor: "Lawmakers' Approach to the Insurance Crisis is Counterproductive"
A long-form newsletter about natural disaster insurance quotes RFF Senior Fellow Margaret Walls and cites two recent RFF papers.