David Newburn

Biography:

Dr. David Newburn is an environmental and resource economist. His applied research and policy outreach focuses on two main areas: (1) land-use regulations for the preservation of farmland and forests; and (2) water quality and the Chesapeake Bay. He has worked extensively on spatial models of land-use change for managing urban sprawl and has examined the effectiveness of land-use policies to protect forest and farmland. Dr. Newburn’s work on water quality and the Chesapeake Bay evaluates the effectiveness of voluntary incentive-based programs, like subsidies for adopting agricultural conservation practices and household urban stormwater management practices, as well as water quality trading.

Dr. Newburn also has extensive experience in multidisciplinary research groups and committees. He is a collaborator on the NSF funded Baltimore Ecosystem Study (BES) and a research affiliate with the National Center for Smart Growth. He also was appointed to serve on the Chesapeake Bay Program Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee.

Education: 

B.S. University of Maryland, College Park, 1991
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 2002

• Design and evaluation of payment for ecosystem services (PES) programs
• Spatial economic models of land-use change
• Incentives for agricultural conservation practice adoption
• Environmental trading programs for water quality and carbon sequestration
• Coastal adaptation to sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion
• Nonpoint source pollution reduction from agriculture and urban stormwater

Selected Publications:

Kim#, Y., E. Lichtenberg, and D. Newburn. 2024. “Payments and penalties in ecosystem services programs.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, in press.

Johnston, R., T. Ndebele, and D. Newburn. 2023. “Modeling transaction costs in household adoption of landscape conservation practices.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 105(1): 341-367.

Groffman, P., A. Suchy, D. Locke, R. Johnston, D. Newburn, A. Gold, L. Band, J. Duncan, J. Grove, J. Kao-Kniffin, H. Meltzer, T. Ndebele, J. O’Neil-Dunne, C. Polsky, G. Thompson, H. Wang, E. Zawojska. “Hydro-bio-geo-socio-chemical interactions and the sustainability of residential landscapes.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus, in press.

Newburn, D., C. Polsky, R. Johnston, H. Wang, and T. Ndebele. 2023. “Modeling multi-scale influences on household lawncare decisions: Formal and informal neighborhood conforming effects on fertilizer use.” Landscape and Urban Planning, 240, 104869.

Rosenberg, A., D. Newburn, and C. Towe. 2023. “Household willingness to pay for stream restoration on private and public lands: Evidence from the Baltimore Metropolitan Region.” Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 59(2): 376-395.

Zhang, R. D. Newburn, A. Rosenberg, L. Lin, P. Groffman, J. Duncan, and L. Band. 2022. “Spatial asynchrony in environmental and economic benefits of stream restoration.” Environmental Research Letters, 17(5), 054004.

Fleming, P., E. Lichtenberg, and D. Newburn. 2020. “Water quality trading in the presence of conservation subsidies.” Land Economics, 96(4): 552-572.

Wrenn, D, A. Klaiber, and D. Newburn. 2019. “Price-based policies for managing residential development and impacts to water quality.” Resource and Energy Economics, 58: 101115.

Fleming, P., E. Lichtenberg, and D. Newburn. 2018. “Evaluating impacts of agricultural cost sharing on water quality: additionality, crowding in, and slippage.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 92: 1-19.

Newburn, D. and J. Ferris. 2017. “Additionality and forest conservation regulation for residential development.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 99(5): 1228-1245.

Wrenn, D, A. Klaiber, and D. Newburn. 2017. “Confronting price endogeneity in a duration model of residential subdivision development.” Journal of Applied Econometrics 32:661-682.

Ferris, J. and D. Newburn. 2017. “Wireless alerts for extreme weather and the impact on hazard mitigation behavior.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 82: 239-255.

Newburn, D. and A. Alberini. 2016. “Household response to environmental incentives for rain garden adoption.” Water Resources Research, 1345-1357.

Newburn, D. and J. Ferris. 2016. “The effect of downzoning for managing residential development and density.” Land Economics 92(2): 220-236.

Grantham, T., M. Mezzatesta., D. Newburn, and A. Merenlender. 2014. “Evaluating tradeoffs between environmental flow protections and agricultural water security.” River Research and Applications 30: 315–328.

Mezzatesta, M., D. Newburn, and R. Woodward. 2013. “Additionality and the adoption of farm conservation practices.” Land Economics 89(4): 722-742.

Newburn, D. and R. Woodward. 2012. “An ex post assessment of the Great Miami River Water Quality Trading Program.” Journal of the American Water Resources Association 48(1): 156-169.

Grantham, T., D. Newburn, M. McCarthy, and A. Merenlender. 2012. “The role of stream flow and land use on limiting oversummer survival of juvenile steelhead in California streams.” Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 141: 585-598.

Newburn, D. and P. Berck. 2011. “Exurban development.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 62: 323-336.

Newburn, D., N. Brozovic, and M. Mezzatesta. 2011. “Agricultural water security and instream flows for endangered species.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 93(4): 1212-1228.

Irwin, E., K. Bell, N. Bockstael, D. Newburn, M. Partridge, and J. Wu. 2009. “The economics of urban-rural space.” Annual Review of Resource Economics 1: 435-459.

Lohse, K.A., D.A. Newburn, J.J. Opperman, and A.M. Merenlender. 2008. “Forecasting relative impacts of land use on anadromous fish habitat to guide conservation planning.” Ecological Applications 18(2): 467-482.

Newburn, D.A., P. Berck and A.M. Merenlender. 2006. “Habitat and open space at risk of land-use conversion: targeting strategies for land conservation.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 88(1): 28-42.

Newburn, D.A. and P. Berck. 2006. “Modeling suburban and rural residential development beyond the urban fringe.” Land Economics 82(4): 481-499.

Newburn, D., S. Reed, P. Berck, and A. Merenlender. 2005. “Economics and land-use change in prioritizing private land conservation.” Conservation Biology 19(5): 1411-1420.