Department of Economics
" Global warming, sky-rocketing health care costs, suburban and exurban sprawl, dependency on foreign oil, globalization, the viability of Social Security: Just a few of the major social policy problems Economics analyzes. "
- The Economics Department offers Economics Majors small classes, informal interaction with faculty, and a supervised research experience.
- Economics studies how people make choices about the use of scarce resources. Those scarce resources include environmental quality and outdoor recreation opportunities as well as entrepreneurial drive, labor effort, and minerals. The Economics Department’s mission is to introduce students to the tools that allow a critical analysis of the individual and social choices we make about resource use. We provide students an opportunity to apply those tools in a supervised research project of their own.
- The Economics Department focuses on applying Economics to current social problems in our own “wilderness” backyard, in contemporary political debates, and in developing countries around the world. Our young faculty was chosen for their commitment to students and their passion for research and the sharing of those research results.
Joe Ramler, Graduate Student
Joe Ramler
Hometown: Belgrade, Montana
Thesis Advisor: Derek Kellenberg
Research Topic: Indirect effects wolves have on livestock production in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Kate Marcille, Senior
Kate Marcille
Hometown: Columbia Falls, Montana
Thesis Advisor: Kay Unger
Research Topic: Environmental Economics & Environmental Policy
Kelly Smith, Graduate Student
Kelly Smith
Hometown: Missoula, Montana
Thesis Advisor: Amanda Dawsey
Research Topic: Economics of Historic Preservation
Dmitri Murfin-Simmons, Graduate Student
Dmitri Murfin-Simmons
Hometown: Missoula, Montana
Thesis Advisor: Jeff Bookwalter
Research Topic: Subjective Well-Being
