Jacob Hochard, a professor at the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, uses economics to address some of Wyoming’s environmental problems.
Hochard’s current research focuses on how Wyoming’s economy is affected by tourism and local wildlife.
“We’re doing a lot of work on elk management throughout the state of Wyoming, trying to value what the contribution of elk is to the state’s economy,” Hochard said.
Hochard compared wildlife like elk, mule deer and wolves to other assets like Wyoming’s mineral trust fund and said that things like hunting and wildlife tourism are, “services that are going to benefit Wyoming’s constituents in the future.”
Hochard also focuses on the impacts of tourism in the state of Wyoming.
“Something I’m fascinated with is kind of the remoteness of Wyoming and all of the incredible resources it has to offer,” Hochard said. Hochard.
According to Hochard, tourism will soon be the most important financial resource in the state of Wyoming.
“If you look at especially our two national parks, Grand Teton and Yellowstone, they have tremendous visitation and one of the challenges of that is they’re highly congested,” Hochard said. “That kind of reduces the experience of a lot of folks.”
Additionally, Hochard says that Wyoming’s national parks are often not accessible to many people due to financial constraints and disabilities.
One part of Hochard’s research is trying to create access to the national parks and other less visited areas of Wyoming, such as the Bighorn mountains and the Snowy Range near Laramie.
As a result, Hochard recently started the SHOW Wyo initiative, a project designed to create virtual access to many of Wyoming’s natural attractions.
“One of the things we’re trying to do with SHOW Wyo is to leverage cutting edge technology to create virtual experiences that people can tap into,” Hochard said.
Hochard first came to Wyoming in 2011 to pursue a doctorate in environmental economics through the University of Wyoming College of Business. In his dissertation, he focused on gray wolf management in the Yellowstone ecosystem.
After completing his doctorate in 2015 Hochard spent five years as an assistant professor and researcher at East Carolina University. Hochard returned to UW in the fall of 2020 to begin a job as a professor in the Haub School.
Hochard fell in love with Wyoming and the West during graduate school and said that, “it was always kind of a dream to come back.”
This semester, Hochard is using his background in economics and environmental science to teach a class called Econ of Critters and Climate through the Haub School.
