Dr Simone Martino

Simone Martino has a multidisciplinary background integrating knowledge and skills from natural science (BSc & MSc in Environmental Science), resource management (MSc in Coastal and Marine Resource Management) and environmental/ecological economics (PhD in Ecology and Biological Resource Management). This multidisciplinary knowledge is reflected in my research embracing natural and social aspects, with focus on valuation (monetary and non-monetary), of ecosystem services and natural capital (marine and terrestrial), and on a plural and participatory governance for the management of natural resources. I make extensive use of quantitative methods in economics (stated approaches such as contingent valuation methods and choice experiment) and revealed approaches (random utility framework applied to recreation), cost benefit analysis, MCDA, meta-regression analysis, production function approach) for the valuation of provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services.

Since 2015 my research has been characterised by the integration of a broad set of quantitative approaches for the valuation of: 1) the local economy of beaches; 2) the social-economic impacts of human activities on saltmarshes, 3) agroforestry ecosystem services (mainly provisional) in the Romanian uplands focussing on the importance of the CAP II pillar to sustain the livelihoods of montane communities; 4) the importance of environmental attributes (landscapes, wildfowl abundance, water quality, etc.) in the assessment of recreational services provided by the AONB North Pennines peatlands (UK) under rewetting policy; 5) trade-offs between fishing effort and impacts on wildlife recreation under different fishing management scenarios; and 6) the economic consequences of algal blooms for the Scottish mussel production.