Environmental policy in two departments
- D-USYS
- D-USYS
Rachael Garrett holds the new Chair of Environmental Policy, which is jointly funded by D-USYS and D-GESS. She comes from Boston. Her research focuses on the causes and consequences of land use changes and the loss of woodland through deforestation and agriculture.
Rachael Garrett’s research examines interactions between land use, ecosystem services, and economic development at multiple spatial and temporal scales to better understand the drivers and impacts of land change and the effectiveness of existing conservation and agricultural policies. She is particularly interested in how commodity supply chains interact with environmental institutions to shape land use processes, resource distribution, and trade. The applied outcomes of this work are the identification of policies, technologies, and market solutions that will help feed a growing world population without compromising the well-being of future generations. She is particularly interested in ways that we can scale up sustainable practices in commercial farming systems, which occupy a majority of the world's land base.
With the professorship of Rachael Garrett, ETH Zurich is accentuating its focus on current environmental problems and strengthening cooperation in the field of environmental policy and economics between different departments.