About Donald F. Larson…
Donald is an independent researcher and the founder of the International Institute for Development and Environmental Studies. He also holds a courtesy faculty appointment at William & Mary’s Global Research Institute. Don earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland and holds additional degrees in economics from Virginia Tech and the College of William & Mary.
His research focuses on rural development, natural resource management, food security, carbon markets, and trade. Don has authored or edited six books and published extensively in leading scholarly journals, including the Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Annales d’Économie et de Statistique, Journal of Futures Markets, and the World Bank Economic Review.
Throughout his career, Don has collaborated with governments and institutions on policy issues across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the South Pacific. As part of a World Bank team, he helped launch the first climate-finance initiative, the Prototype Carbon Fund, in 1999.
Donald is also a visiting scholar at William and Mary’s Global Research Institute.