ProfessorDarla Hatton MacDonald

Darla Hatton MacDonald is a Professor and Associate Head of School - Research Performance with the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics.

Prof Hatton MacDonald's research and teaching focus on the application of economic concepts to environmental management problems contributing to the University of Tasmania's Transitions in productivity and climate.  As an example, she has an interest in natural capital accounting and has been involved in blue carbon projects - restoring a saltmarsh (Coal River, Tasmania) and seagrass meadows (Adelaide, South Australia). In these projects, she focussed on the value of carbon and recreation. 

She has led major projects in the valuation of environmental assets and ecosystem services including: water, species management, aquaculture, microplastics, renewable energy, recreation and soil stewardship. She has provided timely peer-reviewed research to State and Commonwealth agencies in Australia to support the development of public policy. 

Other major research projects have involved evaluating and developing market-based instruments (water trading, salinity credits, voluntary markets for carbon) for emerging environmental problems. A large part of her work has focussed on establishing the values associated with managing and restoring environmental assets and ecosystem services.