BIOGRAPHY

Jake Hochard is an applied natural resource economist who returned to the University of Wyoming’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources in 2020 after earning his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Wyoming in 2015. His research integrates geospatial analysis, mathematical modeling, and empirical methods to examine interactions between natural and human systems, with the aim of supporting stakeholder engagement in natural resource policy and management decisions.

From 2015 to 2020, Jake served as an assistant professor and research scientist in East Carolina University’s Department of Economics and Coastal Studies Institute, and he held faculty fellow positions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute, and the Center for Natural Hazards Research. He also contributed as a lead author to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) 2025 report assessing global business dependencies on biodiversity.

Recent projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Knobloch Family Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy focus on: (i) assessing the impacts of tropical storms and flooding on vulnerable coastal populations, including children and pregnant women; (ii) evaluating natural asset values stored within wildlife populations over time; and (iii) examining public perceptions of wildfire management in fire-prone areas.

Full publication list available here.

Select Publications

Chang, Charlotte H., James T. Erbaugh, Paola Fajardo, Luci Lu, István Molnár, Dávid Papp, Brian E. Robinson et al. "Global evidence of human well-being and biodiversity impacts of natural climate solutions." Nature Sustainability 8, no. 1 (2025): 75-85.

Ferraro, Paul J., Todd L. Cherry, Jason F. Shogren, Christian A. Vossler, Timothy N. Cason, Hilary Byerly Flint, Jacob P. Hochard et al. "Create a culture of experiments in environmental programs." Science 381, no. 6659 (2023): 735-737.

Hochard, Jacob, Yuanhao Li, and Nino Abashidze. "Associations of hurricane exposure and forecasting with impaired birth outcomes." Nature communications 13, no. 1 (2022): 6746.

Hochard, Jacob. "Investing wisely in land restoration." Nature Sustainability 5, no. 1 (2022): 3-4.

Hochard, Jacob P., Stuart Hamilton, and Edward B. Barbier. "Mangroves shelter coastal economic activity from cyclones." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 25 (2019): 12232-12237.

Barbier, Edward B., and Jacob P. Hochard. "Land degradation and poverty." Nature Sustainability 1, no. 11 (2018): 623-631.