John Loomis

Non Forest Service

Dr. Loomis

I like being a scientist because I like solving puzzles about human behavior. I am interested in how much people value clean air and water, and protecting the environment for things like hiking and as homes for endangered species. People cannot buy resources like clean air in stores, so it is hard to put a price tag on them. As a scientist, I play detective to discover these values by asking people questions.

My favorite science experience is getting the results of a survey back and finding the monetary values that people have for protection of a natural resource. It is usually higher than I would have expected.