UHPSI Research Assistants Owen Luo and Salma Huque are working with the Blackfoot Challenge to quantify the economic benefits of their conservation investments in the local community. The Blackfoot Challenge is a non-profit based in Ovando, Montana that brings together private landowners and public agencies to protect natural resources in the Blackfoot River Watershed. Their work has generated significant conservation impacts for grizzly bears, wolves, native fisheries, forests, grasslands, and watershed resilience in the face of climate change. While the work they do has enormous positive benefits for the community, there has not yet been a formal analysis that quantifies these conservation efforts. Owen and Salma are diving deep into the Blackfoot Challenge’s projects to understand how private, state, and federal funding has created positive ripple effects in the local and regional economy. Quantifying these benefits will help the Blackfoot Challenge make a strong case for continued public investment in their mission to bring diverse stakeholders together to conserve and enhance their rural landscape. The project will also provide a methodological template for conducting such analysis so that it can be replicated elsewhere.
Salma Huque – Research Assistant | Salma is a Master of Environmental Management candidate specializing in Water Resources. She is interested in watershed management, public land use, and conservation in the American West. Salma holds a BA in Economics from Reed College. Her work experience includes time as an environmental consultant in Oregon, a research assistant for the USFS’s Intermountain West region, and a water conservation data scientist in western Colorado. She has a strong coding background and loves the challenge of communicating data-heavy analyses to the public. Outside of work and school, Salma can be found road cycling, knitting, and yelling at hockey players from her couch. See what Salma has been up to.
Owen Luo – Research Assistant | Owen is a Master of Environmental Management candidate at Yale School of the Environment specializing in energy and policy. He is passionate about the intersection of clean energy and finance, with experience as a project finance analyst at a utility-scale renewable energy developer and as an investment banking intern supporting a solar energy transaction. He is also the founder of a renewable energy nonprofit that promotes public understanding of clean energy adoption. Owen holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Columbia University. Originally from Chengdu, China, he enjoys playing soccer, hiking and photography. See what Owen has been up to.
