Yusuke Kuwayama is a university fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF) and an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Kuwayama’s research focuses on the economics of water resource management and the societal value of Earth science information.
Kuwayama strives to conduct economic analysis that leads to effective and efficient policy solutions for three major problems related to water quality and scarcity: inefficient water use in the agricultural sector; tradeoffs across economic and ecosystem uses of water; and wastewater management. The methods and techniques he uses to address these issues vary depending on the specific research question, but usually consist of dynamic optimization, applied econometrics, and policy analysis.
Kuwayama is also the Director of the Consortium for the Valuation of Applications Benefits Linked with Earth Science (VALUABLES), a cooperative agreement between RFF and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to carry out research, outreach, and communications activities relating to the societal value of information derived from Earth observations.
Kuwayama’s research is often interdisciplinary in nature, involving collaboration with hydrologists, ecologists, and engineers. He has been PI or co-PI on grants supported by a variety of funders including NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. His work has been published in outlets such as the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Land Economics, Environmental and Resource Economics, the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Regional Environmental Change, and Hydrogeology Journal.
Education
- PhD in agricultural and applied economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011
- MS in economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006
- AB in economics, Amherst College, 2004
