The Environmental Valuation and Policy Lab (EVPL) has been developed to support research and research training in applied environmental and ecological economics.

We take the view that our physical environment, terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and biodiversity can be viewed as the ‘natural capital’. Our natural capital, like financial capital in a bank account, provides humans with a flow (i.e., 'interest') of ecological goods and services that can be used to produce diverse products and services and improve quality of life for humans in many ways.

The focus of EVPL research is on understanding how natural capital contributes to human and societal well-being. The three main areas of focus are:

1. Economic valuation of the non-market benefits of natural capital;
2. Modeling of ecological-economic systems in ways that incorporate inherent ecological and socio-economic uncertainty; and
3. Conducting policy research on the institutions - the formal rules and informal social norms - that may facilitate or constrain ecological, social and economic sustainability.