Kevin Boyle named to EPA advisory committee
Kevin Boyle, director of the Program in Real Estate and professor of agricultural and applied economics in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was recently named to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board’s Economics Advisory Committee by Administrator Gina McCarthy.
Boyle will serve a three-year term. In his capacity as a committee member, Boyle will be part of a team that reviews policies at the federal level to ensure that cost and benefits analyses are computed correctly.
Though nominees don’t know the exact criteria used for selection, Boyle’s expertise in environmental and health economics, in addition to his recent cost-benefit analysis work with storm water policies, were most likely contributing factors to his being nominated.
He is an internationally recognized expert in the area of estimating values for items not directly traded in markets, including natural resources. His research focuses on improving methods to measure values and to elicit preferences for water, and land and forest resources with an emphasis on how those resources influence real estate markets. He has participated in numerous research initiatives throughout the U.S., Canada, Chile, Australia, Bangladesh, and India.
“The appointment is a recognition of professional expertise,” said Boyle. “It gives you credibility in evaluating future policies.”
Prior to his appointment to the EPA committee, Boyle was involved in a number of water quality studies including one to investigate alternatives for reducing run off into the Chesapeake Bay from nursery and greenhouse operations, as well as control crop diseases.
As both the director of the Program in Real Estate at Virginia Tech and a faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, his students will also reap the benefits of assessing the real-world examples he will be able to bring to the classroom regarding environmental policy issues. The multidisciplinary real estate program draws on resources from the Pamplin College of Business and the colleges of Architecture and Urban Studies, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and Natural Resources and Environment.
“This type of appointment brings you into the center of those discussions,” said Boyle. “And creating the university connection to the Environmental Protection Agency can help attract new students to Virginia Tech and provide employment opportunities for graduates.”
Boyle holds a bachelor’s in economics from the University of Maine, a master’s in agricultural and resource economics from Oregon State University, and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
Written by Amy Loeffler.
