Northern Economics Inc.

Marcus Hartley's work for Northern Economics has focused primarily on issues involving fisheries and fisheries infrastructure. He has also been heavily involved with development of data and data systems for community-based decisionmaking. Before coming to Northern Economics in 1997, Marcus was Senior Economist at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, where he became a recognized expert in providing economic analysis for decisionmakers in some of the world's most important fisheries. Marcus has been a professional economist since receiving his M.Sc. in Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics from Oregon State University 1989. Working as an applied economist to help communities and individuals make good decisions about their resources became a priority for Marcus after 2 years in the Peace Corps. Working in Nepal as a fisheries extension officer, Marcus witnessed the power of economic thinking and the consequences of uninformed decisions. The fisheries program presented small farmers an opportunity to move from their tradition of growing rice on their land which might be just enough to support their families to fish farming which could give them a chance to accumulate wealth and break free from their cycle of poverty. Unfortunately, fish farming was not risk-free, and it required new skills, dedication, and hard work. If the farmer wasn't able to meet the challenge, or if external factors turned negative, then the decision could result in failure, the loss of a farmer's land, and even starvation for the family. The tradeoff between relatively risk-free rice farming with a continued life of poverty against a very risky leap of faith into fish farming with a higher profit potential and a chance to accumulate wealth was clear. It was also clear that economics could provide information to help these farmers and many other people facing complex issues in their decision processes. While much of Marcus's work has involved fisheries, his most satisfying work comes with application of ideas and concepts from one field to areas of study in which they have not been used. In a recent study for the Alaska Marine Highway System, he applied the concept of price elasticity to service attributes and developed the concept of a service elasticity of demand for ferry services. Outside the office, Marcus spends a lot of time on the squash court and hiking and skiing with his wife Diane, in the rugged mountains behind their South Anchorage home. He is a passionate fly-fisher and is always looking for the perfect trout stream.

As office manager for Northern Economics, Diane Steele has a vast array of important duties and responsibilities. Such duties include: bookkeeping, which includes all financial reporting, accounts payable and receivable, payroll, and quarterly and annual taxes; human resource management, in which she manages all matters pertaining to insurance and retirement plans; management of the company's database and records; and organization of all firm functions and travel arrangements. Born in Bethel, Alaska, Diane moved to Anchorage at the age of one and has been here ever since. Leisure time is typically spent with her family, summers camping and fishing, and falls hunting. Although the trips had to decrease once her daughter and son were born, they are now picking up again as the kids are becoming fishers themselves. Her work history has been in a variety of fields from trophies and art out of high school, to mental health for 7 years, then North Slope construction for 4 years and in February of 2005 settling in with Northern Economics. Most of her experience through on-the-job training has been in the accounting, office management areas.

Donald Schug has had a working relationship with Northern Economics since 2000 and joined the firm in July 2001. Currently, he is splitting his time between the Anchorage office and his home in Davis, California. To date, Don's work with Northern Economics has focused primarily on issues involving fisheries. For example, he was closely involved in the economic analysis for the Alaska groundfish fisheries environmental impact statement and contributed to an assessment of the socioeconomic impacts of the Western Alaska Community Development Quota (CDQ) Program. Don has more than twenty years of experience performing analyses of the economic and social aspects of fisheries and fisheries management at the community, national, and international levels. For example, his doctoral research in Papua New Guinea entailed an ethnographic study of artisanal fisheries in the Torres Strait, while his duties as an economic planner in American Samoa included monitoring changes in the highly industrialized U.S. tuna harvesting and processing sectors. Don's fisheries-related research and applied work has taken him to many places in the United States and abroad. He has worked extensively in the Pacific islands, including Polynesia (Hawaii and American Samoa), Micronesia (Kiribati) and Melanesia (Papua New Guinea). This island hopping reflects his love for travel as much as his career interests. Don believes that solutions to many of our natural resource management problems can only be achieved through the integration of information from a range of scientific disciplines, including economics, biology, sociology, and anthropology. As a result, he especially enjoys working with a team of people that can provide a wide range of perspectives and skills.

Jonathan King joined Northern Economics, Inc in March 2003 as a economist specializing in both fisheries and land use issues. His is greatly amused by the fact that this focus could easily describe as an entree option in a nice restaurant (surf n' turf). His work at NEI has included regulatory policy analysis for issues before the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, and consulting on land use projects in the Anchorage area. Jonathan has been a professional economics consultant since graduating with a B.A in economics and class valedictorian from St. Lawrence University in 1996. From 1996 until 2000 he worked as an economist for Triangle Economic Research in Durham, NC. His work at TER focused on natural resource damage assessments and the valuation pollution induced changes in recreational fishing levels. Jonathan returned to school in September 2000 and completed his M.Sc. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics in August 2002. His thesis analyzed the property tax implications of conservation easements on municipal property taxes in Vermont. In the months between graduation and joining NEI, Jonathan worked for James Anderson, PhD at J.L. Anderson Associates in Matunuck, RI. His work with Dr. Anderson on salmon pricing and seafood markets led to his current position at NEI and authorship of three chapters in the 2003 book "The International Seafood and Fish Trade." Outside the office Jonathan enjoys a wide range of hobbies including fishing, water sports, cooking, gardening, and reading- all things that Alaska offers plenty of opportunities to do.

Katharine (Trina) Wellman is an associate of Northern Economics based in Seattle, WA. Dr. Wellman holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Economics and an M.M.A. in Marine policy, both from the University of Washington, Seattle. She has worked at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Battelle Memorial Institute as a research scientist and natural resource economist. More recently she has been a private consultant in marine resource economics and coastal management. Her work includes authorship of two guides on the use of environmental valuation in coastal management and policy decision making, assessments of the economics of aquatic habitat restoration, the study, Assessment of Natural Resource Values and Economic and Environmental Impacts of Actions Selected for the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, which was prepared for the Lower Columbia River Estuary Program by Battelle Research Centers and The Research Group. She contributed to Assessing Stakeholder Values for the Tillamook Bay National Estuary Project, a report prepared for USEPA Office of Ocean Coastal Protection Division and Tillamook National Estuary Project, Garibaldi, Oregon. She also participated in identifying and quantifying impacts of improved ocean observing system information on the various economic sectors that utilize such information within the states of Washington and Oregon for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She also co-authored the journal articles, "Bringing Stakeholder Values into Environmental Policy Choices: A Community-Based Estuary Case Study," and "Assessing Stakeholder Values for Salmon Restoration in Willapa Bay, Washington."

Kelly Baxter joined Northern Economics in February, 2003. She has an M.S. in Economics, from the University of Wyoming. While attending the University of Wyoming, Kelly had several experiences that strengthened her interest in applied economics. Among those experiences was a summer spent in Monteverde, Costa Rica. She was awarded an independent research grant from the University of Wyoming, and spent a summer researching the regional socioeconomic impact of tourism. Kelly enjoyed interacting with the local people and learning about their unique community in the rainforest. She was quite excited to see how tourism had positively affected people's value of the surrounding environment, helping the local people plan for a future of continued conservation. During summer of 2002, Kelly worked as intern with Puget Sound Energy in Bellevue, WA. Her master thesis is derived from this experience and focuses on an experimental rate program, and how to optimally implement time-differentiated rates such that economic efficiency increases, benefiting both customers and producers. Although Kelly is new to the world of consulting, she is looking forward to using her analytical skills and ability to meet challenges, and to help others make better decisions.

Susan Burke joined Northern Economics' Bellingham, Wasington office in March of 2006. Susan provides economic consulting services specializing in water allocation issues arising between and among users in the Western U.S. She has ten years experience working with state and Federal agencies as well as members of environmental, municipal and agricultural stakeholder groups. She received her Ph.D. in Resource Economics from the Oregon State University in 1999 and her M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California Davis in 1995. Susan specializes in integrating multi-discipline efforts and interfacing with a wide range of stakeholder groups. Prior to her graduate work she enjoyed a successful ten-year career in Silicon Valley as the Manager of Business and Financial Planning for a successful computer start-up firm. Claim to fame: I'm famous? I might be slightly infamous for trying to outrun an oil tanker named the Baton Rouge in a sea kayak. I thought for sure I had plenty of time to cross from Anacortes to Saddlebag Island in front of her, but she thought otherwise and let me know with blasts on her horn.

Katharine (Trina) Wellman is an associate of Northern Economics based in Seattle, WA. Dr. Wellman holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resource Economics and an M.M.A. in Marine policy, both from the University of Washington, Seattle. She has worked at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Battelle Memorial Institute as a research scientist and natural resource economist. More recently she has been a private consultant in marine resource economics and coastal management. Her work includes authorship of two guides on the use of environmental valuation in coastal management and policy decision making, assessments of the economics of aquatic habitat restoration, the study, Assessment of Natural Resource Values and Economic and Environmental Impacts of Actions Selected for the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, which was prepared for the Lower Columbia River Estuary Program by Battelle Research Centers and The Research Group. She contributed to Assessing Stakeholder Values for the Tillamook Bay National Estuary Project, a report prepared for USEPA Office of Ocean Coastal Protection Division and Tillamook National Estuary Project, Garibaldi, Oregon. She also participated in identifying and quantifying impacts of improved ocean observing system information on the various economic sectors that utilize such information within the states of Washington and Oregon for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She also co-authored the journal articles, "Bringing Stakeholder Values into Environmental Policy Choices: A Community-Based Estuary Case Study," and "Assessing Stakeholder Values for Salmon Restoration in Willapa Bay, Washington."