Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
531 College Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
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Open to the Public

A Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series talk titled “As below, so above: Economics and the orbital commons” by Akhil Rao, Assistant Professor of Economics, Middlebury College.

Satellites are increasingly integrated into our lives and responses to the climate crisis, yet the environment in which satellites operate is poorly understood and poorly governed. In this talk, we will take an economic perspective on the challenge of governing the orbital commons. What can we learn from our terrestrial experiences of commons management, and how can we ensure future generations continue to benefit from satellites?

Akhil Rao joined the Economics faculty at Middlebury College as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2019. His primary research interests are in environmental and computational economics, with a focus on outer space and simulation modeling. Akhil received his PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder, and BS in Business Administration from the University of California, Riverside. His dissertation research focused on the economic dynamics of orbit use and applying that understanding to policy design and integrated assessment modeling. He teaches courses in statistics and environmental economics.

Sponsored by:
Environmental Studies

Contact Organizer

Hunt, Lily
lnhunt@middlebury.edu
443-5552