By 2050, we will need to feed two billion more people. How can we do that without overwhelming the planet? Scientists are beginning to realize that the natural world actually underpins our own economies and livelihoods. Dr. Taylor Ricketts, Director of the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, is working to understand the various ways that nature benefits people, and the ways that we can manage ecosystems more wisely with that knowledge. His research explores the relationships between nature, the economy, and society by quantifying the benefits we receive from the environment, and calculating the cost of its destruction. His work creates a powerful business case for landowners, industries, and government to protect ecosystems and species that humans need to thrive.

Dr. Ricketts and his team combine the strengths of natural and social sciences to address these sustainability challenges. Through field experiments, they quantify the importance of wild species to our food supply. Through sophisticated computer modeling, they map the economic “return on investment” in conserving nature. And through pioneering uses of “Big Data” – the torrent of information now available from long-term datasets, social media, and the Internet – they determine how nature affects people’s mental and physical health. Dr. Ricketts’ research goes beyond the walls of a laboratory, or even the boundaries of a field experiment, to find solutions to real-world problems. In all of his research, he collaborates closely with people in non-profit and government sectors to link rigorous research with practical conservation and policy efforts worldwide.

Current research includes:

• The Value of Nature: Dr. Ricketts works to estimate the economic value of conserving nature. He and his team have worked in Sumatra, Costa Rica, Tanzania, and the U.S., to calculate these economic values and use them to predict how land use decisions and policies might alter the flow of benefits to people. These benefits can be found in forests that store carbon (and keep it out of the atmosphere), wetlands that purify water and slow down floods, and many other forms. Questions they are pursuing include: What benefits do natural ecosystems produce for people? Where are they coming from and who are they benefitting? How much are they worth? Would nature conservation have a positive "return on investment" as a result?

• Wild Pollinators and our Global Food System: 70% of crops require bees or other pollinators to yield well; it is worth billions annually. Dr. Ricketts uses field experiments to calculate the contribution of wild pollinators to crop yields and farm revenue. He also samples bees to understand what they need to persist in our farmed landscapes. The goal is to quantify the importance of pollinators, and help farmers with their populations. Dr. Ricketts and his team have worked on coffee and blueberry crops specifically, and he helps lead a national consortium using identical methods on a range of U.S. crops, to build a more general picture.

• Is Nature Good for You?: Beyond economic benefits, nature’s ecosystems can improve human health outcomes in a variety of ways. Dr. Ricketts is pursuing a cluster of projects in this area. For example, he co-leads a research team using data from millions of households to understand how disease risk in children depends on the ecological health of the watersheds they live in. He is also studying the health impact of pollinator decline. Bee-pollinated plants like mangos and squashes are an important source of micro-nutrients in the global food supply. If pollinators keep declining, will people become nutrient deficient?