Brynhildur Davidsdottir

Email:bdavids@bu.edu

Key Qualifications_____________________________________________________________

Dr. Davidsdottir, an adjunct professor at Boston University and an Associate in the Abt Associates Environment and Resources Area has 10 years of experience in analysis of issues of environmental policy and natural systems management, particularly concerning sustainable resource use and management, ecological economics and regional impact of climate change policy. Much of her work has focused on complex systems modeling of resource policy issues, and regional responses within the United States to various climate change policy options. Recently, Dr. Davidsdottir’s work has focused on: regional responses of major industrial sectors in the United States to different climate change policies using dynamic modeling, in particular focusing on the impact on investment and production volumes and how changes in production technology and related capital stock influence energy and material use; incremental cost analysis of restoration options; analysis of state-level changes in carbon emissions and economic performance of emission-producing sectors; adaptation of different cultures to changes in their external economic and natural environment as exhibited through natural resource use and management; the implementation of practical environmental accounting frameworks in the corporate environment; and analysis of management decision-making and broader corporate performance consequences in response to narrowly defined environmental and energy programs and regulatory requirements and the development of Sustainable Energy Development Indexes. Before joining Abt Associates full time, Dr. Davidsdottir taught graduate and undergraduate courses in energy economics, ecological/environmental economics, and modeling and quantitative methods in the context of social and environmental systems at Boston University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Studies. Her analytical skills include system dynamics modeling, econometric and statistical analysis, and cost benefit analysis.

Education_____________________________________________________________________

Ph.D., 2002, Boston University, Energy and Environmental Studies.
M.A.,1995, Boston University, International Relations and Resource and Environmental Management.
B.S., 1991, University of Iceland, Marine Biology and preparatory masters program in Economics.

Relevant Professional Experience________________________________________________

2004 – current Adjunct Assistant professor, Boston University

2004 – current Associate at Abt Associates Inc.

2002-2004 Consultant at Abt Associates Inc. Development of Carbon Emissions Economic Intensity Index. Principal Consultant, Abt Associates Inc. In this effort Dr. Davidsdottir supported Abt Associates in work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Atmospheric Programs, in development and use of the Carbon Emissions Economic Intensity Index (CEEII) framework, a state-level analytic system and database that calculates and measures carbon emissions in relation to the value of the production activities that generate carbon emissions.

2002-present: Book Review Editor for the journal Ecological Economics.

2001-2004. Instructor/RASP, Boston University. Taught undergraduate and graduate level classes in ecological economics, modeling social and environmental systems and energy economics. Research dealt for example with sustainable energy development, co-evolution of social and environmental systems, the integrated analysis of material and energy flows in the context of climate change, and climate change policy analysis. Worked closely with the EPA as well as with stakeholders in industry to develop simulation models that can be used as tools to facilitate communication between the EPA and stakeholders on the development of environmental policy – with a focus on the impact/response to climate change policies.

2004. Incremental cost analysis of restoration options. Technical Reviewer. In this effort Dr. Davidsdottir served as a technical reviewer of the economic frameworks used when choosing between different restoration options, in addition to advising how to choose the most preferable option when restoring for example a salt marsh.

Courses taught (sample):

Undergraduate Level

2002-2004 Energy and Environmental Futures: Class focuses on different energy futures, and their corresponding environmental/human health futures with a particular focus on climate change. Class taught spring 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Graduate Level

2002-2004 Ecological Economics: Class focuses on feedback relationship between the economy and the environment, valuation of natural services and green accounting using the theories of Ecological Economics. Class taught spring 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.

2001-2004 Integrative Modeling of Social and Environmental Systems: Class focuses on how to model the feedback relationship between economic and environmental/ecological/climatic events. Students develop under the supervision of the instructor complex economic and environmental models. Examples include, impact of changed weather patterns on beach erosion, impact of changed weather patterns on soil erosion, impact of changes in weather patterns and carbon dioxide levels on coral reefs and impact of changes in temperatures and humidity on energy use in buildings and appropriate responses to such changes. Class taught fall 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Other Consulting Experience

1997-2000 Developing Dynamic Interactive Simulation Models for Climate Change Policy Research , Boston University. At Boston University as a doctoral student, Dr. Davidsdottir participated in an effort for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, led/coordinated a research team in developing Interactive Dynamic Simulation Models of energy use and thus carbon emissions of major US industries (the BU-CEEES models). The industrial systems analyzed were the pulp and paper industry, the iron and steel industry, the cement industry and the ethylene industry in the United States. The models were developed in close collaboration with industry to foster consensus building, and to build credible scenarios of future industrial behavior and thus energy use and carbon emissions in each industrial system, and to test the impact of climate change policies on future energy and carbon emissions from those systems. Dr. Davidsdottir was involved in meetings with the EPA and stakeholders, and responsible for interim and final reports to the EPA.

1998 Taking Early Action to Meet Kyoto Commitments. As a Consultant to the Tellus Institute Boston, Dr. Davidsdottir analyzed early action crediting. Using the LIEF and BU-CEES models Dr. Davidsdottir and the Tellus Institute analyzed for the US EPA Office of Atmospheric programs the impact of “Taking Early Action to Meet Kyoto Commitments” on three energy intensive industries. The objective of the project was a first cut analysis of the cost of such early carbon reduction action on the iron and steel, pulp and paper and cement industries.

1996-1997 Support to Policy Development, Icelandic Ministry for the Environment. As a Consultant to The Icelandic Ministry for the Environment, Dr. Davidsdottir analyzed different policy options regarding efficient municipal waste management, the collection and use of plastics in agriculture, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the collection and use of waste tires. Wrote a report to the Icelandic Government recommending specific options in each category based on cost/benefit analysis.

1992-1993 Research and Data Analyst, Biology Institute of the University of Iceland. Identified, gathered, and analyzed data and wrote research articles on the behavior and taxonomy of deep-sea isopods contributing to the joint Nordic research project BIOICE (Benthic Invertebrates in Icelandic Waters).

Reviewer for:

Ecological Economics, The Journal of Industrial Ecology, Energy Policy, Journal of Environmental Management, Chemosphere, Environmental Science and Technology and Environmental Science and Policy.

Publications___________________________________________________________________

Peer Reviewed Articles/dissertation:

Davidsdottir, B., M. Ruth, 2005, Industrial Inertia and Environmental Performance – Opportunities and Constraints for Environmental Policy, forthcoming in a Special Issue in the Journal of Energy and Technology Policy.

Davidsdottir B., M. Ruth, 2005, “Pulp non-fiction: Dynamic Modeling of Industrial Systems,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, Forthcoming.

Davidsdottir, B., M. Ruth, 2004, “Capital Vintage and Climate Change: The Case of US Pulp and Paper,” Environmental Science and Policy, Forthcoming.

Ruth M, B. Davidsdottir, A. Amato, 2004, “Climate Change Policies and Capital Vintage Effects: The Case of US Pulp and Paper, Iron and Steel and Ethylene,” Journal of Environmental Management, 70(3): 235-252.

Davidsdottir B., 2003, “Modeling industrial behavior and the feedback relationship between energy and material flows and capital vintage in the US paper industry: implications for policy design aimed at improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” In Proceedings of ACEEE summer study on energy efficiency, Summer 2003.

Davidsdottir, B., 2002, A Vintage Analysis of Energy and Fiber Use, Technological Change and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the US Paper Industry, PhD Dissertation, Department of Geography and the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Boston University.

Ruth, M., A. Amato, B. Davidsdottir, 2002, “Carbon Emissions from U.S. Ethylene Production under Climate Change Policies,” Environmental Science & Technology, 36(2):119-124.

Ruth, M., B. Davidsdottir and A. Amato, 2000, “Modeling the Dynamics of Industrial Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The Case of Iron and Steel, Pulp and Paper and Bulk Chemicals in the United States”. Report prepared for the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Ruth, M., B. Davidsdottir and S. Laitner, 2000, “Using Climate Change Policies to Promote Efficiency in the US Pulp and Paper Industry,” TAPPI Journal, 83(7):43-47.

Ruth, M., B. Davidsdottir and S. Laitner, 2000, “Impacts of Market Based Climate Change Policies on the US Pulp and Paper Industry,” Energy Policy, 28:259-270.

Ruth, M., A. Amato and B. Davidsdottir. 2000. “Impacts of Market-based Climate Change Policy on the US Iron and Steel Industry,” Energy Sources, 22(3):269-281.

Bernow, S., M. Duckworth, M. Ruth, H. Sarnow, M. Ruth and B. Davidsdottir, 1999, “Taking Early Action to Meet the Kyoto Commitments: Reducing Carbon Emissions in Three Energy-Intensive Industries,” Tellus Institute. Report prepared for the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Ruth, M., B. Davidsdottir, A. Amato, and J. Tanizaki, 1998, “Dynamic Models of Industrial Responses to Climate Change Policy in US Paper and Pulp, Iron and Steel, and Cement Production”. Report prepared for the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Kaufmann R.K, B. Davidsdottir, S. Garnham, and P. Pauly, 1998, “The Determinants of Atmospheric SO2 Concentrations: Reconsidering the Environmental Kuznets Curve,” Ecological Economics, 25:209-220.

B. Davidsdottir, 1997, Hagkvaem Umhverfisstjorn (Economically and Environmentally Efficient Environmental Management), The Ministry for the Environment, Iceland (in Icelandic).

Svavarsson, J. and B. Davidsdottir, 1995, “Cibicides spp. (Protozoa, Foraminifera) as Epizoites on the Arctic Antenna-Brooding Arcturus Baffini (Crustacea, Isopoda, Valvifera),” Polar Biology, 15(8):569-574.

Svavarsson, J. and B. Davidsdottir, 1994, “Foraminiferan (Protozoa) Epizoites on Arctic Isopods (Crustacea) as Indicators of Isopod Behavior,” Marine Biology, 118(2):239-246.

Peer Reviewed Book Chapters:

Davidsdottir, B. D. Basoli, S. Fredericks, 2005, Indicators for Sustainable Development, in Frontiers in Environmental Valuation and Policy, Edward Elgar Cheltenham, United Kingdom, (Forthcoming).

Davidsdottir, B. 2004, Forest Products and Energy Use, Encyclopedia of Energy, Academy Press.

Ruth, M., B. Davidsdottir, A. Amato, 2004, Dynamic Industrial Systems Analysis for Policy Assessment, in Economics of Industrial Ecology, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, United Kingdom.

B. Davidsdottir, 2003, Management of the Commons: Social Behavior and Resource Extraction, in Dynamic Modeling of Marine Conservation, Springer Verlag.

Sample of Papers presented at Lectures and Conferences:

“Pulp non-fiction: Dynamic Modeling of Industrial Systems,” International Society of Ecological Economics, Montreal Canada summer 2004.

“Sustainable Energy Development: a three dimensional index”. International Society of Ecological Economics, Montreal Canada summer 2004.

“Modeling industrial behavior and the feedback relationship between energy and material flows and capital vintage in the US paper industry: implications for policy design aimed at improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions” ACEEE Summer Study summer 2003, Rye Brook, NY.

“Pulp non-fiction: incorporating dynamic feedback relationships between material and energy flows and vintage effects in the US pulp and paper industry,” USEEE Conference in Saratoga Springs, NY in summer 2003.

“Incorporating dynamic feedback relationships between material and energy flows, vintage effects and regional heterogeneity: implications for managing greenhouse gas emissions” ISIE Conference in summer 2003.

“The Relationship Between Material and Energy Flows: Implications for Energy Policy,” Abt Associates, Cambridge, MA, summer 2002.

“Dynamic Analysis of Industrial Systems: the case of US paper industry, Department of Economics,” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York, Spring 2002.

“Understanding Industrial Responses to Climate Change Policies: The Case of US Pulp and Paper,” Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, Spring 1999.