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Eelgrass Restoration In San Francisco Bay: An Interdisciplinary Stated Preference Classroom Experiment, Camille M. Antinori

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

This paper aims to integrate experiential, interdisciplinary approaches into environmental economics courses through a stated preference analysis for eelgrass beds harboring aquatic plants foundational to many estuaries and coastal zones. It argues that such approaches are necessary in undergraduate education to support real-world needs in oceans and climate policy. Through collaboration with ecologists and peers, students developed willingness-to-pay measures of $35 and $42 for a 10-year restoration program for 200 acres of eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the San Francisco Bay based on open- and closed-ended elicitation formats. The experiment provides an example of overcoming the challenge of orienting …