Alexandra Thompson
Senior Research Associate and GIS Research Coordinator
Alexandra Thompson is a Senior Research Associate and the GIS Coordinator at RFF and an expert on using spatial data to address environmental and socioeconomic challenges. Her current efforts are focused on understanding national land use and protection pathways for climate transitions and effects of sea level rise on the Chesapeake Bay agricultural economy.
Thompson’s work supports a wide range of resource economics policy areas through geospatial analysis design and interdisciplinary research. With a background in urban and regional planning, Thompson brings expertise in environmental land use planning and engineering of geospatial data relating to land cover, sea level rise and saltwater intrusion, habitat, protected areas, climate and weather, hydrography, energy resources, socioeconomics, and agriculture.
Other work includes effects of drought on agriculture, value of remotely sensed information, invasive species monitoring and spread modeling, and minimizing habitat and environmental impacts of renewable energy siting.
As RFF’s GIS Coordinator, Thompson enhances research insights with spatial data science through software engagement, technical support, and information product development.
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Testimony and Public Comments — Mar 8, 2022
Comments on the Development of a Conservation and Stewardship Atlas
Comments to the Department of the Interior on the development of a Conservation and Stewardship Atlas.
Journal Article — Sep 24, 2021
Socioenvironmental Drivers of Establishment of Lymantria dispar, a Nonnative Forest Pest, in the United States
RFF researchers coauthor this article that examines how socioenvironmental factors impact the likelihood of the arrival and establishment of Lymantria dispar, an invasive moth species.
Journal Article — Jul 14, 2021
Decommissioning Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells: New Estimates and Cost Drivers
Decommissioning Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells: New Estimates and Cost Drivers
Journal Article — Apr 14, 2021
Public Contributions to Early Detection of New Invasive Pests
Public Contributions to Early Detection of New Invasive Pests
Testimony and Public Comments — Mar 8, 2022
Comments on the Development of a Conservation and Stewardship Atlas
Comments to the Department of the Interior on the development of a Conservation and Stewardship Atlas.
Journal Article — Sep 24, 2021
Socioenvironmental Drivers of Establishment of Lymantria dispar, a Nonnative Forest Pest, in the United States
RFF researchers coauthor this article that examines how socioenvironmental factors impact the likelihood of the arrival and establishment of Lymantria dispar, an invasive moth species.
Journal Article — Jul 14, 2021
Decommissioning Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells: New Estimates and Cost Drivers
Decommissioning Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells: New Estimates and Cost Drivers
Journal Article — Apr 14, 2021
Public Contributions to Early Detection of New Invasive Pests
Public Contributions to Early Detection of New Invasive Pests
Common Resources — Nov 16, 2022
Geeking Out on Geography: Mapping Policy Scenarios for the Energy Transition
Resources for the Future scholar Alexandra Thompson examines the useful role of geographic information systems (GIS) for interpreting how the Inflation Reduction Act defines “energy communities.”
Resources Radio — May 24, 2022
70 Years of RFF: Looking Ahead with Young Economists at Resources for the Future
Young research analysts at Resources for the Future look ahead to speculate about the future of environmental economics—and their role in that future.
Common Resources — Apr 14, 2021
Getting to 30x30: Important Considerations for the Biden Administration’s Conservation Agenda
RFF’s Alexandra Thompson and Margaret Walls answer key questions that surround the Biden administration’s ambitious push to conserve 30 percent of US lands and waters by 2030.
Resources Magazine — Apr 4, 2017
Investing in Coastal Protected Lands under Threat from Sea-Level Rise
Protected lands along the US eastern seaboard could help shield communities from the impacts of climate change—but these coastal ecosystems are at ...
Press Release — Jul 21, 2021
New Study Reveals Key Factors for Estimating Costs to Plug Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells
New Study Reveals Key Factors for Estimating Costs to Plug Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells
Press Release — Apr 14, 2021
The American Public Is Responsible for Identifying Over a Quarter of New Invasive Species
The American Public Is Responsible for Identifying Over a Quarter of New Invasive Species
Press Release — Feb 9, 2021
A NOAA Website Offers Free Tools, Data, and Trainings—and Provides Millions of Dollars in Societal Value
A NOAA Website Offers Free Tools, Data, and Trainings—and Provides Millions of Dollars in Societal Value