YSE Class of ’21 Andie Creel: Putting a Value on Natural Resources

Growing up in Bozeman, Montana Andie Creel ’21 MESc had nature at her doorstep. And when she says nature, she means wheat fields, cow pastures, and trails that lead to Gallatin Natural Forest — and Yellowstone National Park.

Add to that parents who were ecologists and it’s not surprising Creel developed an interest and appreciation for natural resources.

But she also had an up close view of how quickly the region was changing, watching as wheat fields were plowed down to make way for housing developments — with more land being sold off every year.

“That’s a story that’s common across the Western U.S., but the greater U.S., too, and it made me start to think about where our priorities are and what gets incentivized and what doesn’t,” Creel says.

After studying economics at Montana State University, Creel worked as a journalist for the Montana Engagement Partnership, a coalition of four nonprofits that works to conserve land, water and ocean resources while promoting healthy communities and social equity. That work gave her a heightened appreciation for the need to balance the complexities of conservation and human development.

At YSE, Creel’s research has focused on environmental valuation, climate change, and resource and agricultural economics. She first focused on researching the capital asset price of grizzly bears, which looked at human behavior and money spent on preserving the bears to set a cost on the preservation of individual bears. But when COVID-19 hit, she pivoted and began studying the use of parks during the pandemic. Using cell phone data, Creel found that park use increased during the pandemic.