Tate Watkins

Tate Watkins

Publications Fellow, Research Fellow

Tate Watkins is a research and publications fellow at PERC. He is also managing editor of PERC Reports. He previously worked with small-scale farmers in the Haitian coffee sector, where he helped set up an initiative to boost growers’ production, quality, and livelihoods. Prior to that, he worked as a freelance journalist reporting on economic development and foreign aid.

Watkins earned M.A. and B.A. degrees in economics from Clemson University, served in the Peace Corps in Senegal, and spent two years researching economics and public policy in Washington, D.C. He is a native of Nashville, Tennessee.

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Articles by Tate Watkins

The Dusky Gopher Frog’s Day in Court

Tate Watkins

How we got to today's Supreme Court endangered species case.

Should Dried Up Ponds Limit Property Rights?

Tate Watkins

The yearslong dispute over a frog demonstrates how the Endangered Species Act has failed wildlife and private property owners alike.

Endangered Frog’s Survival Depends on Making Landowners Friends Not Foes

Tate Watkins

Maybe it’s a sign of our times that the Supreme Court’s next case could hinge on something so obscure as whether five ponds in southeastern Louisiana stay wet year-round.

Changing the Endangered Species Act Could Actually Help Conservation

Tate Watkins

Avoiding conflicts over endangered species could allow states, landowners and conservationists to work more proactively to recover species.

If a Frog Had Wings, Would It Fly to Louisiana?

Tate Watkins

The Supreme Court prepares to weigh whether habitat must be habitable. Whatever it decides, the Endangered Species Act has to do better—by wildlife and landowners alike.

A True Wildfire ‘Fix’ Would End Bad Incentives

Tate Watkins

Fire policy should steer clear of bad incentives that nudge more people and homes into harm’s way.

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