Associate Professor
Fernando DePaolis teaches Data Analysis, Development Economics, and other advanced quantitative policy analysis courses. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the University of California-Los Angeles. He has been the Regional Economist with the Denver Regional Council of Governments (Denver, Colorado). Over the years, he has consulted extensively for cities and counties in the United States, international organizations, and multiple non-governmental organizations. Professor DePaolis is also a senior researcher at the MIIS Center for the Blue Economy, where he develops research and teaches courses on the problems and solutions at the interface between large bodies of water (oceans and lakes) and urban agglomerations. Prof. DePaolis has been a Fulbright-LASPAU scholar. At MIIS, he has been Assistant Dean, Program Chair, and President of the Faculty Senate. In his spare time, Prof. DePaolis is an avid outdoorsman, off-roader and explorer of the California wilderness.
DPPG 8500
Policy & Data AnalyticsCourse Description
Introduction to Policy and Data Analysis
This course is a guided introduction to conceptualizing problems and making sense of quantitative information in the policy sphere. The course begins by introducing the theory and practice of policy analysis. The stages of the public policy process and methods for structuring policy inquiry are introduced to provide a means for deconstructing policy problems and asking relevant and practical questions in a policy context.
Next the class is introduced to how such questions are addressed using quantitative tools. Topics to be covered include sampling, estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, and regression techniques. This will basically be a primer on applying inferential statistics to policy problems. The course will also include introductory training in the use of innovative statistical software, as well as Excel statistical functions.
Terms Taught
DPPG 8551
Development EconomicsCourse Description
The course is designed to introduce students to the complex subject of Economic Development, its terms, tools, and theories, as well as the policies intended to stimulate it and the pitfalls waiting to trap the unwary policymaker. Its complexity derives from defining economic development as the intersection of economic, political, and social dimensions and their evolution over time, within a specific geographic, cultural, and historical context. Development is envisioned as a process, rather than a goal, continuing and evolving through time and across levels of material well-being.
Terms Taught
DPPG 8564
Sustainable CitiesCourse Description
The timeliness of the topic at the national and global scale, is only matched by its political, economic and social relevance. The sustainability of urban areas is assailed by a combination of threats never seen before. At a time when—for the 1st time in history—more than 50% of humans reside in cities, those looming threats demand multidisciplinary approaches both to understand them better and to provide sensible solutions that mitigate the negative effects while amplifying the potential benefits. This class addresses those dimensions (economic, social, environmental, and political) as well as their interactions; it offers a framework under which the potential or already observed impacts are quantified and analyzed; and it surveys the policies implemented around the world. Although there are no explicit pre-requisites, students are expected to have a cursory understanding of economics and basic analytics.
Terms Taught
DPPG 8569
Economics of InequalityCourse Description
Is global inequality increasing or decreasing? Experts differ on the right answer to that straightforward question. In this course, students will explore various concepts of economic inequality, including a consideration of measurement and data issues. The course will review key theories of the relationship between economic inequality and economic development, including the causes and consequences of inequality levels. For Spring 2022, the course will devote considerable space to the mutual impacts of inequality and COVID-19. Student’s work will include group projects, written and oral communication, and reading of a variety of technical and non-technical texts. The course, which satisfies either of the Development Paradigms or the Economics requirement, will be offered in-person and will be accessible to online learners.
Terms Taught
ENPG 8503
Resrch Strategies for Env PolCourse Description
Research Strategies for Environmental Policy
This course introduces students to the design and implementation of research, with an emphasis on applied research into contemporary social and ecological issues that part of policy development and implementation. The course will be interdisciplinary in scope and will include the use of historical, ethnographic, biophysical, political and contextual data and information. The course will cover various social science methods, including political science, policy analysis, and sociology, and associated analytical approaches that can be used to develop and design research proposals, including case study and comparative case studies, survey design, content analysis, documentary analysis, and ethnographic approaches.
Terms Taught
ENPG 8611 Current
Sustainable Coastal ManagementCourse Description
Coasts are vital ecological, economic and social systems. Nearly forty percent of the world’s population lives within 100 km of a coast. In California, the coastal and ocean economy exceeds $40 billion/year. But population and urban growth, and economic and industrial development have taken a heavy ecological toll on coasts. In many places, coastal systems are highly degraded. Public beaches are crowded, inaccessible or even closed due to poor water quality. Fisheries are in decline and plastic pollution is overwhelming the marine environment. Climate change, including sea level rise, ocean acidification and rising temperatures fundamentally threatens both coastal communities and ecology.
This course provides an interdisciplinary foundation in the resource management challenges and governance frameworks for sustainable coastal management, including consideration of the political, legal, social, economic and natural science dimensions of the coast. The course begins with a focus on the past fifty years of modern coastal management in California, including an examination of public access, habitat protection, growth management and protection of the nearshore environment. Often described as an international leader in coastal management, California presents an opportunity to explore the successes and on-going efforts to find the right balance between human development and the protection of natural systems, as well as the challenges of effective, transparent intergovernmental governance in a highly political setting.
The second third of the course focuses on climate change, vulnerability and coastal resilience. Students will learn about sea level rise science and methods for analyzing the vulnerability of coastal resources. Specific attention will be focused on the process of adaptation planning and the variety of strategies, such as managed retreat, being pursued to adapt to projected sea level rise. This focus presents an opportunity to explore in even greater detail the difficulties of simultaneously protecting natural shorelines, maintaining vibrant human-built environments, and assuring environmental justice along the coast.
Finally, the course considers the global and international context of coastal management as seen through international governance institutions and different country systems of coastal management. This includes an examination of “integrated coastal zone management,” coastal resilience challenges outside of the U.S.
The course will include online class sessions, readings and other media presentations and targeted field assessments in the Monterey area as feasible. Students will be expected to actively participate in research, writing and discussion, and prepare and give a final class presentation.
Terms Taught
GIPD 8569 Current
Economics of InequalityCourse Description
Is global inequality increasing or decreasing? Experts differ on the right answer to that straightforward question. In this course, students will explore various concepts of economic inequality, including a consideration of measurement and data issues. The course will review key theories of the relationship between economic inequality and economic development, including the causes and consequences of inequality levels. Student’s work will include group projects, written and oral communication, and reading of a variety of technical and non-technical texts. The course, which satisfies either of the Development Paradigms or the Economics requirement, will be offered in-person and will be accessible to remote learners.
Terms Taught
IEPG 8663
Ocean & Coastal EconomicsCourse Description
The purpose of this course is to develop advanced economic skills applied to development and resource issues in the world’s oceans and coasts. The course will focus heavily on analytical and data-driven techniques that can help illuminate the costs and benefits of various policies in the ocean and coastal zones, using a variety of metrics, and incorporating environmental and social values. The course will be divided into two parts: Market economics and coastal planning with Prof. DePaolis and non-market economics with Prof. Scorse.
Student participation in both of these sections will be high, involving many in-class assignments, lab sessions, and extended discussions. Students will be expected to engage in original data collection, analysis, and research. This is an intensive course geared for people who want to pursue careers in marine-related fields, although the topics are more broadly applicable to a range of conservation and development-related careers.
GIS is recommended.
Terms Taught
IPMG 8698
Directed StudyCourse Description
Student must obtain a faculty advisor, complete a Directed Study proposal form, obtain signatures, and submit to the Associate Dean of Academic Operations for approval.
Terms Taught
Economic Development. Regional Economics. Spatial Statistics & Econometrics. Purpose specific programming languages & modeling software. Mitigation of climate change impacts.
Professor DePaolis has been teaching at the Institute since 2001.
| by Caitlin Fillmore
Environmental policy student Jack Anderson was fully immersed in the complexities of emergency response planning through his work at the City of Monterey, which has to plan for a wide range of risks.
| by Jessie Raymond
The largely student-run initiative provides students, faculty, and community partners with data analysis services ranging from software training to program evaluation to collaborative projects.
| by Eva Gudbergsdottir
Middlebury Institute students explored various approaches to complex issues that have resulted in, been shaped by, or aggravated by COVID-19 in cross-disciplinary course focused on language, policy, and intercultural communication.
