David Letson
Associate Professor of Marine Affairs with a secondary appointment in the Economics Department
Fellow, Center for Marine and Environmental Analyses.

 
 Biography
Dr. Letson holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin, with concentrations in natural resource and environmental economics, public finance, and mathematical programming. He received his Bachelor of Science from James Madison University, as Magna Cum Laude with distinction, with a double major in economics and English. He has also served as an environmental economist with the Natural Resources and the Environment Division of the Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

 
 Research Interests

Professor Letson specializes in natural resource economics and the economics of regulation. He is currently participating in a multi-disciplinary assessment of the value of climate forecasting for agricultural production in Argentina and the southeastern U.S. He is a member of the Florida Consortium, a group of researchers from three Florida universities (Miami, Florida and Florida State, plus regional collaborators), in the disciplines of meteorology, agricultural engineering, economics and sociology. The Florida Consortium receives support from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Global Programs in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Letson is also part of a multi-disciplinary team that will assess the possible consequences of climate change for the South Florida environment for the USEPA’s National Center for Environmental Research and Quality Assurance. In research supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Letson recently evaluated the economic and environmental consequences of market consolidation in animal production. In research supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Letson (with Daniel Suman and Manoj Shivlani) recently evaluated the feasibility of pollution prevention strategies in the coastal zone.

Current teaching

Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment (MAF 502) graduate level course
Fisheries Economics (MAF 525) graduate level course
Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment (ECO 345) undergraduate course
 

Recent Publications

Articles and Chapters:

Crutchfield, Stephen; David Letson; and Arun Malik, 1994. "Feasibility of Point-Nonpoint Source Trading for Managing Coastal Water Quality," Water Resources Research 30(10): 2825-2836.

Ferreyra RA, Podestá GP, Messina CD, Letson D, Dardanelli J, Guevara E, Meira S (2001) A Linked?Modeling Framework to Estimate Maize Production Risk Associated with ENSO?related Climate Variability in Argentina. Agricultural and Forestry Meteorology 107: 177?192.

Letson, David, 1992. "Point-Nonpoint Source Pollution Reduction Trading: An Interpretive Survey," Natural Resources Journal 32(2): 219-232.

Letson, David, 1992. "Simulation of a Two-Pollutant, Two-Season Pollution Offsets System for the Colorado River of Texas Below Austin," Water Resources Research 28(5): 1311-1318.

Letson, David, 1992. "Investment Decisions and Transferable Discharge Permits," Environmental and Resource Economics 2(4): 441-458.

Letson, David. “Economics of the Intracoastal Waterway in Broward County” Florida Geographer.  Vol. 29(1): 30-43.  September 1998.

Letson, David. 1998. “Economics of the Intracoastal Waterway” Pp. 19-31 in Four Essays on the Intracoastal Waterway, J. Halsey, ed. Report of the Florida Inland Navigational District and the Broward County Dept. of Natural Resource Protection.

Letson, David; Stephen Crutchfield; and Arun Malik. 1993. "Point/Nonpoint Source Trading for Controlling Pollutant Loadings to Coastal Watersheds: A Feasibility Study," In Theory, Modeling and Experience in the Management of Nonpoint Source Pollution. Clifford Russell and Jason Shogren, eds. Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Letson, David and Noel Gollehon. 1996. “Confined Animal Production and the Manure Problem” Choices 11(3): 18-21, 24.

Letson, David and Noel Gollehon. 1998. “Spatial Economics of Targeting Manure Policy for Water Quality Benefits” Journal of the American Water Resources Association (formerly Water Resources Bulletin). Vol. 34(1): 185-193.  (Note: This paper was one of four finalists for the 1999 Boggess Award for the best JAWRA paper in 1998.)

Letson, David and Noel Gollehon. 1998. “Specialized Animal Production and Groundwater Protection” Review of Agricultural Economics. Vol. 20(2): 348-364.

Letson, David and B.D. McCullough. 1998. “Better Confidence Intervals: the Double Bootstrap with No Pivot” American Journal of Agricultural Economics.  Vol. 80(3): 552-559.

Letson, David; Daniel Suman; and Manoj Shivlani. 1998. “Pollution Prevention in the Coastal Zone: Lessons from Four Case Studies” Coastal Management. Vol. 26(3): 157-175.

Letson, David and Parveen Setia, 1994. "On-Farm Costs of Reducing Environmental Degradation under Risk," Estudios Económicos 9(2): 163-188.

Letson D, Hansen J, Hildebrand P, Jones JW, O’Brien JJ, Podestá GP, Royce F, Zierden D (In Press) Florida’s Agriculture and Climatic Variability: Reducing Vulnerability. Florida Geographer.

Letson D, Llovet I, G Podestá, Royce F, Brescia V, Lema D, Parellada G (In Press) User perspectives of climate forecasts: Crop producers in Pergamino, Argentina. Climate Research.

Letson D, McCullough BD (In Press) ENSO and Soybean Prices: Correlation without Causality, Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Llovet, Ignacio and David Letson. 1999. “Condicionantes Sociales y Modelos Mentales en La Adopción de Información Climática entre Productores Agropecuarios del Norte de la Provincia de Buenos Aires” Cuadernos del Programa Interdisciplinario de Estudios Agrarios Vol 9: 9-53.

Malik, Arun; David Letson; and Stephen Crutchfield, 1993. "Point/Nonpoint Source Trading of Pollution Abatement: Choosing the Right Trading Ratio," American Journal of Agricultural Economics 75(4): 959-967.

Podestá G, Letson D, Messina CD, Royce F, Ferreyra RA, Jones JW, Hansen JW, Llovet I, Grondona M, O’Brien JJ (In Press) Use of ENSO-related Climate Information in Agricultural Decision Making in Argentina: A Pilot Experience. Agricultural Systems.

Shivlani, Manoj; David Letson; and Christian Read Sawzcyn. “Socioeconomic Impact of the Florida Net Ban in Monroe County” Florida Geographer. September 1998. Vol. 29(1): 12-29.

Westenbarger, David and David Letson. 1995. "Livestock and Poultry Waste Control Costs," Choices 10(2): 27-30.

Monographs:

Espino, M.D.; A. Darling; L. Ajamil; W. Dover; J. Flanigan; W. Hunt; G. Johns; D. Letson; W. Milon; L. Moller; R. Ogburn; C. Pattison; E. Raasch; S. Strahl; B. Wade; R. Weisskoff; L.C. Woehlcke; B. Yokel and J.W. Smith. A Report on Full Cost Accounting.  Governor’s Commission for a Sustainable South Florida. Florida Dept. of Community Affairs, Florida Coastal Management Program, pursuant to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award #NA 87OZ0203. Dec. 1998.

Letson, David; Daniel Suman and Manoj Shivlani, editors. Pollution Prevention in the Coastal Zone. Ann Arbor: National Pollution Prevention Center for Higher Education, University of Michigan. 1998.

Letson, David and J. Walter Milon, eds. Forthcoming. Florida’s Coastal Environmental Resources: Economic Valuation and Analysis. National Sea Grant.

Presentations:

David Letson, Ignacio Llovet, Guillermo Podestá, Fred Royce, Victor Brescia, Daniel Lema and Gabriel Parellada. "User Perspectives of Climate Forecasts: Crop Producers in Pergamino,
Argentina." Submitted to Climate Research.

Regional Application of ENSO Forecasts to Agriculture,Presented at Cambios Climaticos Una Vison Integral. Hosted by Universidad de Talca, Chile. Sponsored by NOAA' s Office of Chief Scientist.

Service:

Member, NOAA’s Coastal Environmental Economics Extension Network (www.mdsg.umd.edu/Extension/valuation/).

Member, Technical Advisory Committee, South Dade Agriculture and Rural Land Retention Plan.

Member, Water Demand, Economic Growth and Economic Impacts Committee,  Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

 Professional Activities

Professor Letson's recent work has been published in Natural Resources Journal, Environmental and Resource Economics, Water Resources Research, and the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. He has served on the editorial councils for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics. He has been a consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He has recently been a visiting scholar at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France) at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal).

I get by with a little help from my friends: Erin,Zach, Amelia, Mikko, Tinky, Aslan and Henry.
 
 

Contact
Dr. David Letson

RSMAS/MAF
University of Miami
4600 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami FL 33149-1098 USA
Telephone: 305/361-4083
FAX: 305/361-4675
dletson@rsmas.miami.edu
Last modified: 6 January 2000