Karen Sullivan

Environmental and
Natural Resource Economics
vita

Prior to joining the Coastal Institute IGERT Project (CIIP), Karen obtained a M.A. in Economics at the University of Connecticut and worked in the insurance industry as a quantitative analyst creating and updating models used in determining settlements for large loss environmental claims. Karen is currently a third year Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics at the University of Rhode Island.

Karen has completed the two year CIIP program. During her first year as a CIIP Trainee, Karen partnered with Conservation Law Foundation and the Rhode Island Coalition for Water Security for her White Paper experience. The RI Coalition for Water Security used Karen’s research on the Kent County Water Authority’s situation to support their testimony to the Rhode Island Special Legislative Commission to Study All Aspects of the Kent County Water Authority. During her second year as a CIIP Trainee for the internship experience, Karen partnered with the Coastal Resources Center’s Sustainable Coastal Communities and Ecosystems Program in Tanzania, a project funded by USAID with the goal to “help coastal communities improve both their quality of life and their physical environment through good governance.” During her internship, Karen assisted in the completion of A Comparative Economic Analysis of Two Seaweed Farming Methods in Tanzania, An Economic Analysis of Milkfish Farming in Tanzania: Potential for Economic Development and Policy Issues, and a survey of livelihood project beneficiaries in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar aimed at assessing the impacts of project livelihood strategies on both coastal households and integrated coastal management initiatives. In addition to finishing up her work with the Coastal Resources Center, this past summer Karen completed an internship with the World Wildlife Fund where she worked on developing and evaluating a new model for fisheries overseas development assistance that addresses the linkages between poverty, fisheries management and sustainable development.

This past year Karen had the opportunity to provide statistical analysis to support the World Bank Development Report 2009 team. The objective of the report is to identify and understand the interactions between geography, economic activities, and living standards, and to draw the implications of these interactions for public policy. Karen is currently developing her dissertation research. The goals of her dissertation research are to: 1) identify determinants in the formation of property rights arrangements in China’s forests, 2) identify the implications of the recent forest tenure reforms on the sustainability of China’s forests, and 3) identify the implications of the recent forest tenure reforms on those communities who depend on China’s forests for their livelihoods.

Aside from her academic life, Karen appreciates that URI’s location has allowed her to live just a few blocks from the ocean in Narragansett, RI for the last three years, and therefore she spends a good amount of her spare time down by the sea. Karen also enjoys yoga, cooking, running, camping, hiking, photography and traveling. Please feel free to contact her at KarenAnneSullivan@gmail.com.