Patrick Baylis

Patrick Baylis is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics at the Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia. His research focuses on how people respond to environmental threats such as wildfires, air pollution, and extreme temperatures. He employs large datasets, natural language processing, and spatial information in his work, primarily using R/RStudio and Python for data analysis.

Dr. Baylis earned his PhD from the University of California Berkeley in 2016 in Agricultural and Resource Economics. Prior to joining UBC, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Center on Food Security and the Environment. He also worked as a research assistant at the Energy Institute at Haas and is a proud alumnus of Carleton College.

His research interests span environmental economics with a particular focus on climate change impacts, energy economics, and behavioral responses to environmental threats. His work often examines the intersection of climate, health, and economic behavior, using innovative methods like social media data analysis to measure sentiment responses to temperature changes and other environmental factors.

Analysis of his publication record reveals a strong focus on using big data approaches to understand human responses to environmental challenges. His work frequently appears in top journals including Nature Climate Change, PNAS, and the Journal of Public Economics. His research spans multiple subfields including wildfire economics, air quality valuation, climate migration, and the behavioral impacts of temperature extremes.

Dr. Baylis has received significant media attention for his work, with coverage in major outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Atlantic. His research on temperature and suicide rates, as well as climate perception, has been particularly influential in connecting environmental conditions with human behavior and mental health outcomes.

He maintains an active research program examining critical environmental challenges, including wildfire risk, air pollution impacts, climate adaptation strategies, and the economic dimensions of climate change. His work combines rigorous economic analysis with innovative data collection and processing methods to provide new insights into how humans respond to environmental threats.