The PLACES lab is a research group in the Department of Earth and Environment at Boston University led by associate professor Christoph Nolte. We study the effects and costs of environmental policies, especially biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation and adaptation. Our projects often combine satellite observations with large spatial data on land policy, ownership, and use.
Research
Effects and costs of land conservation efforts, environmental valuation.
Teaching
Environmental statistics, economics, data science for conservation
Data
Property boundaries, land cover histories, land value estimates
Meet the research team and find out how to join us.
Current projects
- High-resolution prediction and uncertainty estimation of land value and conservation costs in the contiguous United States (NSF)
- Comparing the effectiveness of conservation instruments in the Colombian Andes biodiversity hotspot (NASA)
- LakeSense: tracking lake water quality from space to estimate its benefits (NASA)
- Economics and equity in adapting to hurricanes (NSF)