Linwood Pendleton


Linwood Pendleton, an American environmental economist, is the World Wildlife Fund . He works across the WWF network and with partners to integrate science and research into ocean conservation strategy and initiatives. Since October 2014, Pendleton has served as International Chair in Marine Ecosystem Services at the and . He is also a senior fellow at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, part of NIEPS. He previously served as the Director of Ocean and Coastal Policy for the Nicholas Institute and was the founder of the Marine Ecosystem Services Partnership. Pendleton was the Acting Chief Economist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from 2011-2013.
Pendleton has collaborated with conservationists worldwide including at the WWF, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, NRDC, and he served for nearly ten years on the Board of the Conservation Strategy Fund. He currently serves on the Science Advisory Committee of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, GEO Blue Planet steering committee, the Blue Carbon Finance Working Group, and the OBIS science advisory committee. Pendleton has served on several government and scholarly advisory boards and committees, including the California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, as part of the statewide Science Advisory Team and Central Coast Subteam. He currently sits on the Editorial Board of the .
His interests are now on international initiatives, which include projects focussing on marine ecosystem services, ocean acidification, blue carbon, and deep sea management.

Early work and education

Before joining Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions in September 2009 as the Director of Ocean and Coastal Policy, Pendleton was senior fellow and director of economic research at The Ocean Foundation in Washington, D.C., and director of the Coastal Ocean Values Center in North Sandwich, New Hampshire. Prior to that, he held the position of associate professor of environmental science and engineering at UCLA, assistant professor of economics and finance at the University of Wyoming, and assistant professor of economics at the University of Southern California. In addition to a master's degrees in Public Administration from Harvard University and Ecology from Princeton University, Pendleton received a doctoral degree in Forestry and Environmental Studies from Yale University in 1997.

Scholarly contributions

Pendleton's work is focused in the field of marine and coastal economics where he studies the effects of environmental change on the economics of ocean and coastal use.
In 2002, Pendleton published a report titled “A Preliminary Study of the Value of Coastal Tourism in Rincon, Puerto Rico” assessing the percentage of Rincon's income that has coastal tourism as its source. Pendleton stated that "should the quality of the coastal and ocean resources of the area become impaired, it is likely that a large portion of Rincon's economy will be lost" and estimated the annual income generated by tourism related to coastal and ocean resources to be greater than $51.9 million. The information from this 2002 report has been cited as instrumental to the designation of the Tres Palmas Marine Reserve as a marine protected area, resulting in the protection of “one of the last remaining elkhorn coral reefs in the Caribbean” and the continued status of Rincon as a “surfing epicenter”.
Pendleton worked with NOAA in 2005 on the National Ocean Economics Program as a nonmarket research specialist. The goal of this program was to determine the value of ocean and coastal resources to give coastal managers a “better understanding of the value of an area’s resources and how important they are to local and national economies.”
In the United States, Pendleton has studied water quality off the beaches of Southern California, looking at the “economic contributions” of beaches and the impact that water quality has on that “contribution” including the “costs associated with pollution of coastal waters and the economic benefits associated with cleaning them.” His studies have included an investigation of the costs of health care and time missed from work by beachgoers due to illness related to low water quality at several South California beaches.
Also in Southern California, Pendleton's research on behalf of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation played a role in instituting the Marine Life Protection Act, creating marine reserves off Westward Beach, Point Dume and Paradise Cove. Pendleton's study surveyed California residents about their visits to the coast and determined that “more than 90 percent of visits to the Southern California coast are for ‘non-consumptive’ activities such as scuba diving, tide-pooling and surfing, and that such ‘non-take’ activities bring more money to coastal economies than ‘consumptive activities’ like fishing.” Data collected related to the impact visits to the coast have on coastal economies showed that consumptive visits brought $2.5 million to these economies while non-consumptive visits were the source of an almost $115 million.
During his time at The Ocean Foundation’s Coastal Ocean Values Center in 2008, Pendleton coauthored and edited the published book “The Economic and Market Value of Coasts and Estuaries: What’s At Stake?” which presented the findings of a study assessing “the economic value of the nation’s coastal areas in excess of hundreds of billions of dollars”. The study also found that although estuaries and coasts cover a small percentage of the total land area of United States they are home to 43% of the United States’ population and produce 49% of its economic output. In discussion of the findings of the study, Pendleton said “We are only now coming to grips with the enormity of the economic value and potential from sustainable uses of our coastal resources, and more importantly, the potential economic losses we suffer each year because of underinvestment in coastal protection and restoration.”
Also during his time at The Coastal Ocean Values Center, Pendleton collaborated on a reference guide titled “Coral Reefs, Mangroves and Seagrass Economic Values: A Global Compilation” which compiled statistics on the economic value of marine resources with the goal of providing that information to managers and planners of marine and coastal development to promote sustainable development of coastal and marine areas. Regarding the contents and purpose of the guide, Pendleton said “This guide will give planners and conservationists scientific evidence of the economic importance of the other values provided by coral reefs, mangroves, and sea grasses.”
In 2010, Pendleton's work focused on rethinking the operation, maintenance, and management funding of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As part of this work he undertook an expedition aboard his personal vessel, Indicator, travelling up the waterway from the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC to the Chesapeake Bay in July 2010. At the end of the expedition, Pendleton convened a policy lab in Washington, DC to bring together stakeholders interested in the Waterway's future such as governmental agency officials, commercial and recreational waterway users, environmental scientists and economists. The policy lab was convened at the request of Congressman Mike McIntyre and was planned as the first of a series of three meetings to discuss the Waterway. Pendleton's purpose in planning an expedition prior to the policy lab was to gain a “sea level perspective” of the challenges the waterway faced. He stated: “I don’t think you can speak credibly about managing the waterway without spending time on it. When you’re at the helm, it’s a completely different story.”
As the LabexMer International Chair in Marine Ecosystem Services, Pendleton has gathered a new research team whose goal is to develop the use of ecosystem services' theoretical framework and data to improve the management of coastal and marine areas. This includes the following projects:

Media

Pendleton comments frequently in newspapers and online media, referenced below.
He has also appeared on TV shows such as The History Channel's Modern Marvels as an aquaculture consultant and CBS News as a public health expert.

Literature

Pendleton is the editor or co-author of 2 books and several peer-reviewed scientific papers, several of which are referenced below.
Books:
Selected marine and coastal articles: