GLIN==> Call for Abstracts

Call for Abstracts for Conference about Socioeconomic Research on Coastal Systems - November 5, 2003
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Upcoming Conference - The Challenges of Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems: Valuation, analysis, and Policy Development

Abstracts will be accepted until January 15, 2004 for an upcoming conference on natural resource economics and policy, The Challenges of Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems: Valuation, Analysis, and Policy Development. It will be held May 27-28, 2004, at the Lod and Carole Cook Conference Center and Hotel on the Louisiana State University campus. The conference is open to those interested in coastal zone management policy, including economists, sociologists, federal, state and local policy makers.

An increasing international body of scientific literature has identified hydrologic modification, nutrient and sediment starvation, and land subsidence as the primary causal agents for coastal erosion, often calling for extensive ecosystem manipulation to arrest land loss and restore coastal wetlands. The justification for such manipulation is based to a great extent upon hypothesized socioeconomic losses that have yet to be rigorously estimated.

This conference will focus on the opportunities and challenges of socioeconomic research in coastal systems, with particular emphasis on economic valuation and its use in developing coastal zone management policy. Potential session topics include (but are not limited to) market and nonmarket valuation of coastal resources, environmental benefit-cost analyses, economic linkage/impact assessment, input-output modeling, and comparative assessments of resource management and restoration policy. Basic and applied research, extension-oriented and policy discussion submissions are welcome. A balanced mix of technical and non-technical presentations are planned, and noted research and policy professionals will be invited as keynote presenters.

The conference is sponsored by the Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy, Department of Agricultural Economics, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center; Louisiana Sea Grant College Program; the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act; The Farm Foundation; and USDA's SERA-IEG 30 Committee.

For instructions to submit abstracts or more information on the conference, go to http://www.agecon.lsu.edu/CNREP.