The Environmental Markets Lab (emLab) is a team of scientists based at the University of California Santa Barbara that advances economic research to deliver practical solutions for people and the planet. In collaboration with implementing partners, we design, test, and implement scalable solutions that work across boundaries—connecting science with policy, data with decisions, and ambition with action—to create pathways toward a future where environmental and human well being mutually reinforce one another.
Our Programs
Leveraging our diverse expertise, we generate timely insights into effective and equitable solutions for Climate & Energy, Land & Freshwater, Ocean & Fisheries, and People & Poverty.
Climate & Energy
Advancing effective and equitable climate solutions
Land & Freshwater
Balancing multiple ecosystem services from the land
Ocean & Fisheries
Improving prosperity and sustainability of the ocean
People & Poverty
Strengthening the resilience of vulnerable communities and natural systems
emLab Blog: Our 2 Cents
Publications
The ability of marine protected areas (MPAs) to safeguard global biodiversity hinges on where and how much fishing effort occurs. Yet, MPA evaluations often simply assume that fishing effort inside new MPAs either disappears or moves elsewhere. We find that neither assumption is true.
When crops fail, forests follow: Agricultural shocks and deforestation in Zambia
Ordóñez et al. 2025, PNAS
Health losses attributed to anthropogenic climate change
Carlson et al. 2025, Nature Climate Change
Near-global spawning strategies of large pelagic fish
Buenafe et al. 2025, Nature Communications
Uneven participation of independent and contract smallholders in certified palm oil mill markets in Indonesia
Ekaputri et al. 2025, Nature Communications Earth & Environment