Christopher Barrington-Leigh
Associate Professor;
Associate Member - Department of Economics;
Associate Member - Department of Geography
By appointment only.
Originally trained in upper atmospheric and space plasma physics at M.I.T., Stanford, and Berkeley, Chris subsequently received a PhD in Economics at UBC. Chris' interests are focused on empirical and quantitative assessments of welfare, and their implications for economic, social, and environmental policy, including the pursuit of overall economic growth and material consumption expansion. In particular, his research makes use of subjective well-being reports to address the relative importance of social and community-oriented aspects of life as compared with material consumption. He uses large international as well as national surveys, experiments, and economic theoretical modeling to understand individual and aggregate consumption benefits. Chris was a Global Scholar of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), affiliated with CIFAR's research programme on Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being.
ENVR 201, "Society, Environment and Sustainability"
ENVR 301, "Environmental Research Design"