Environmental Economics

That is the title of my talk at the "Tips for Students and Newish Economists" panel at the AERE@SEA meetings. Note that I am defining consulting very broadly. Here is my preliminary outline:

1. Goal
   • Enhance your research, teaching, service
   • Don't make it another activity: i.e., research, teaching, service & consulting
2. Community-based research consulting
   • Why? Low budget agencies need economic expertise 
   • Benefit: No cost consulting is community service
   • Benefit: When you include your students you are also teaching
   • Cost: Much of this stuff isn't publishable (but there are exceptions to the rule)
3. Consulting on research grants
   • Why?
     • Principal Investigators don't want to deal with your Office of Sponsored Programs
     • The budget is too small to worry about
     • The agency doesn't pay overhead
     • The turnaround time is too short
   • Benefit: Data and research output (you can't get credit for the report but you can get credit for the publications)
   • Benefit: Less paperwork, zero stupid hoops to jump through, fewer miscellaneous headaches
   • Benefit: Money (but sometimes there is no money but then you can count this as service)
   • Cost: No overhead (i.e., you won't get credit for the work at the university)
   • Cost: No time — you can't can't buy out courses and have only a limited amount of time to work on the project (some places only allow 4 hours per week … unless this is what you do in the summer)
   • Cost: No graduate student support
4. Consulting for the primary purpose of making extra money [ugh]
   • Benefit: Money (and that's about it — unless you can use the examples for teaching)
   • Cost: Before you know it, you're a victim of "sponsor bias" (your work is biased towards the goals of whatever sponsor is paying you)
   • Cost: Your regular research, teaching and service (and, therefore, annual review) suffers
   • Cost: Your colleagues begin to ____ you
     • disrespect
     • resent
     • make fun of

I've been asked to make sure I emphasize that consulting is not something you do instead of your regular job. Done (see the costs of the #4 type of consulting). Any other comments and suggestions are welcome!