Virginia McConnell, an RFF senior fellow, works on environmental issues related to air pollution and urban transportation. Her recent focus has been on the link between urban growth and the environment; specifically, she is evaluating policies to reduce vehicle pollution, programs to scrap old cars, inspection and maintenance programs, and emission taxes. She also studies the role of economic incentives to achieve more efficient urban growth. Also a professor of economics at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, McConnell recently served on the National Academy of Sciences' Committee to Review the Effectiveness of Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Programs, and has been a member of several U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advisory committees, including the Mobile Source Technical Review, a subcommittee of the Clean Air Act advisory committee. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland.

Gerrit Knaap is executive director of the National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education and an economist and professor of urban studies and planning at the University of Maryland-College Park. His research interests include the economics and politics of land use planning, the efficacy of economic development instruments, and impacts of environmental policy. He is the author of more than 40 articles and is co-author, editor, or co-editor of five books: Land Market Monitoring for Smart Urban Growth; Environmental Program Evaluation; Spatial Development in Indonesia; The Regulated Landscape: Lessons on State Land Use Planning from Oregon; and Partnerships for Smart Growth: University-Community Collaboration for Better Public Places. He earned a B.S. from Willamette University, his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, and did post-doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, all in economics.

Jonathan Levine |  
Urban and Regional Planning Program Chair and Associate Professor,
Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan

Jonathan Levine is associate professor and chair of the Urban and Regional Planning Program at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Zoned Out: Regulation, Markets, and Choices in Transportation and Metropolitan Land Use, recently published by RFF Press. His teaching and research are in the areas of transportation and land use, public economics in planning, and interaction of markets and regulation in urban development. He holds an M.S. in transportation engineering and an M.C.P. and Ph.D. in city and regional planning, all from the University of California-Berkeley.

Presentation Slides (PDF format)

Margaret Walls | 
Resident Scholar,
RFF
Web Bio

Margaret Walls is a resident scholar at RFF. She conducts research and policy analysis on issues related to land use, transportation, air pollution, and waste and recycling. In the land use area, she has published articles that analyze the efficacy of transferable development rights (TDR) programs and examine the impact of zoning on suburban land use outcomes. She has also modeled household vehicle ownership and use and has addressed the cost-effectiveness of various instruments for reducing pollution from motor vehicles. Currently, Walls is documenting the design, implementation, and outcomes from several TDR programs in the United States. Her work has been published in the Journal of Public Economics, National Tax Journal, and Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, among others. She is also the author of 10 book chapters. She has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Presentation Slides (PDF format)