Humboldt State University

Campus Overview
Humboldt State University is located in Arcata along the California North Coast where the Redwood forests meet the Pacific Ocean. It is a beautiful campus with a friendly and welcoming community. More than 500 full- and part-time faculty members at Humboldt State teach 7,500 students in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and professional programs. The University offers over 100 undergraduate, graduate and pre-professional programs. Humboldt is known for its favorable student-faculty ratios, an emphasis on social and environmental responsibility, high rates of job placements and the rate at which students go on to earn doctoral degrees. Humboldt also boasts an unusually high proportion of graduates serving in the Peace Corps and managing public and nonprofit service organizations. Humboldt has consistently been cited among the top 10 percent of regional colleges and universities in the United States by a number of national publications, including U.S. News & World Report, Money, and Making A Difference College Guide. www.humboldt.edu

Dr. Steven Hackett, Humboldt State University economics professor, has been awarded the 2005 Scholar of the Year. In bestowing the Scholar of the Year award earlier this summer, HSU President Rollin Richmond cited Professor Hackett's legacy of consistently strong research into regional economic issues and the clarity and significance his work brings to global questions of environmental economics.

Early in his career Hackett's research was focused on social dilemmas associated with common-pool resources, and on the effectiveness of various common-property approaches in resolving these dilemmas. He was particularly interested in the challenges of structuring successful collective-choice arrangements when stakeholders are heterogeneous in various ways. His research approaches involved developing theoretical models and evaluating testable hypotheses through the use of laboratory experimental methods.

Another line of his research involved the use of economic modeling approaches to understand the political economy of environmental regulation. In several papers Hackett investigated how voluntary actions by firms to limit pollution can have strategic value relative to competitors, or as a way of shaping future regulatory policy. More recently Hackett has worked collaboratively on a number of projects addressing the economics of fishery management. A primary focus of this work was on understanding the economic challenges associated with the West Coast's Dungeness crab fishery and its associated processing sector.