Dr. Leah Greden Mathews
Associate Professor of Economics. Dr. Leah Greden Mathews grew
up in the small town of Northfield, Minnesota, where the motto is "Cows,
Colleges, and Contentment." The cows and colleges weren't enough to keep her
there past high school, when she enrolled at Marquette University in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin to get a taste to city life. She earned degrees in
Economics, French, and International Affairs from Marquette in 1991.
Dr. Mathews earned her PhD
in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota and
started teaching at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1997,
though not in that order. At UNCA she teaches principles of microeconomics,
land economics, natural resource economics and the senior research seminar.
Dr. Mathews' research
focuses on the valuation of those things that you can't buy on supermarket
shelves, like environmental quality, and the links between economics and
policy. Her previous research includes projects estimating the costs of
financing farmland preservation in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, valuing
water quality improvements in the Minnesota River, and the value that
recreators have for maintaining higher water levels in Fontana Lake. She also
helped to estimate the value of scenic quality to Blue Ridge Parkway
visitors.
Dr. Mathews' current
research incorporates both her interest in policy relevant research and her
rural heritage. The Farmland Values Project
is gathering information about the values that communities in Western North
Carolina have for farmland, with particular attention to those that aren't
typically exchanged in markets, including scenic beauty and cultural heritage.
Dr. Mathews is a marathon runner
who spends much of her leisure time running on the trails of the NC Arboretum
and Bent Creek. She lives in Candler with her husband, Brian, and their
incredible mutt, Jake.
Economics Department
159 Karpen Hall CPO # 2110
One University Heights
Asheville, NC 28804
Phone: 828-251-6550
FAX: 828-251-6572
Copyright © 2001-2007
[Chris Bell (email), Economics Department, UNC Asheville].
All rights reserved. Revised:
April 03,
2007
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