PERC is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2022 “William S. Broadbent Family Graduate Fellow Award,” Arthur Wardle. This award is made possible by the generosity of the William S. Broadbent Family Endowment, which recognizes excellence within PERC’s Graduate Fellowship Program.
Arthur is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a 2021 PERC Graduate Fellow. He is interested in the economics of conservation, energy, and environmental policy. He received both his BS and MS in Economics at Utah State University and previously worked for the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University. He has published academic articles and policy reports on the Renewable Fuel Standard, federal aquaculture policy, and mine reclamation. In his free time, he can be found scouring the skies for birds.
“The PERC summer fellowship was the most productive research environment I’ve ever been a part of. I’d be back next summer if I could.” — Arthur Wardle
Arthur’s research paper, “Estimating the recreation value of the Cassia Crossbill in Idaho,” studies how a 2017 decision to recognize two distinct species of birds previously classified as one affected the recreational value of their habitat within the Sawtooth National Forest. Details of the setting provide an atypical opportunity to directly examine how the presence of rare and endemic species impacts local recreation. The project assesses the birdwatching recreation value of the Cassia Crossbill, sheds light on the contribution of rare and endemic species to recreation economies, and demonstrates how the economic value of biodiversity is mediated by subjective human institutions (such as taxonomic authorities) rather than purely a function of genetic variation.
Arthur’s paper is currently being submitted to academic journals and he continues to work with PERC through participation in workshops as well as co-authoring articles for an upcoming report on the future of water markets.
