Stephen Polasky

Background & Expertise

Stephen Polasky is the Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental Economics at the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and a Regents Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at the College of Biological Sciences. His research focuses on the intersection of ecology and economics including the impacts of land use and land management on the provision and value of ecosystem services and natural capital, biodiversity conservation and sustainability. He is co-founder of the Natural Capital Alliance, a partnership between the University of Minnesota, Stanford University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Stockholm Resilience Center, The Nature Conservancy, the World Wildlife Fund, and other organizations. He served as co-chair of the Business and Biodiversity Assessment for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). He is a coordinating lead author for the 2nd IPBES Global Assessment and was a coordinating lead author for the 1st IPBES Global Assessment. He served as senior staff economist for environment and resources for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, and on the Board of Directors for The Nature Conservancy, the Science Advisory Boards of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2010. He is a fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.