David is an experienced economist with a strong background in natural resource and agricultural economics, risk and portfolio theory, markets, and quantitative analysis. Get in contact with David if you would like to talk about economic analysis and modelling within the natural resources, agriculture, environment and climate change, and water sectors.

David has real ability in being able to take economic first-principles, frameworks and quantitative methods, and apply these to translate complex issues into clear, evidence based, and actionable findings.

Examples of his work include:

• Investment appraisal. David has undertaken cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of several policies and programs, including the Clean Air Regulation Remake, proposed asbestos waste disposal options, and coastal zone revetment options for areas at high risk of inundation.
• Economic modelling using applied statistical and econometric techniques, data analytics, and visualisation, including analysis of the performance of water brokers, an ex post evaluation of the Sustaining the Basin: Irrigation Farm Modernisation program, and hydro-economic modelling of the Barwon-Darling region.
• Economic analysis, including business case preparation, cost-benefit analysis, and cost-effectiveness analysis, within in a range of sectors across all levels of government.

David joined us from CSIRO’s Data61, where he was researching the impact of the digital economy on firm size and location, and the location and clustering of workers’ occupations and skills. Prior to that, he spent more than a decade at University of Sydney as a researcher, as well as a coordinator, lecturer, and tutor for several economics units of study focusing on agricultural risk and finance, economic modelling and statistics, mathematical optimisation, minerals and energy economics, economics of water and bioresources, and environmental economics.

David is highly skilled in using modelling, numerical simulation, dynamic programming, and statistical analysis to evaluate economic, policy, and risk issues in resource, agriculture, and environment issues. His previous research has included developing stochastic dynamic programming and simulation models to evaluate optimal environmental policies and quantify the option value of the role of learning and uncertainty in fuzzy decision environments, and using clustering algorithms to inform optimal land use zoning decisions.