Sian Mooney has been selected for a leadership position within the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR office. She will be a program officer within the EPSCoR directorate of the NSF for two years, beginning Aug. 29.
Mooney will remain a Boise State professor during the appointment. Her placement within the EPSCoR office will allow her to share her expertise on a wide variety of issues from a social science perspective. It also will supply Boise State with additional insight about NSF-funded projects and initiatives.
“It is no surprise that the NSF wants to bring Dr. Mooney’s expertise to bear. Her selection for this role is a reflection and acknowledgment of her body of work,” said Mark Rudin, vice president for research at Boise State. “Every day, Boise State is growing a dynamic research culture that is being rewarded and recognized for its contributions and expertise. Through connections like these, Boise State’s network of peers and benefactors across the nation is growing and helping to drive our increasing success.”
Mooney has served as Boise State’s lead on a $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation that considers climate and water interactions within Idaho. She also holds a governor’s appointment to the Idaho Governor’s Carbon Sequestration Advisory Committee and the Governor’s Energy Assessment Committee.
She joined the Department of Economics within the College of Business and Economics at Boise State in 2006. Her work examines the design of economic incentives, policies and contracts to support the emerging trade in greenhouse gas credits. She also has worked on a broad range of other topics including drought management, environmental impacts of releasing new technologies, incentives for endangered species protection, mitigation of climate change, and erosion mitigation and water quality protection in sub-Saharan Africa. More recently she has undertaken a new line of research examining the incentives and impediments for economists to engage in mixed discipline research, of significant interest to the NSF.
Mooney holds a Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from Oregon State University, a master’s degree in agricultural economics and farm management from the University of Manitoba and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.