Frankie Cho
College: The Business School
Discipline: Economics
Department: Economics
Research Centre/Unit: Land, Environment, Economics & Policy Institute (LEEP)
Frankie is a PhD researcher jointly at the University of Exeter (UK) and the University of Queensland (Australia). His research focuses on improving decision-making for ecosystem services (e.g. carbon sequestration and clean water) through quantitative economic and environmental modelling.
His PhD project, supported by the QUEX Institute, investigates how to best make natural capital decisions under uncertainty, with empirical applications in the UK and Australia. Supervised by Professor Brett Day (Exeter) and Professor Jonathan Rhodes (UQ), his work draws upon the fields of environmental economics and ecology, building upon the novel integrated environment-economy models developed at the LEEP Institute at Exeter and the cutting-edge expertise in systematic conservation planning at UQ. This project applies state-of-the-art computational methods to (1) characterise the uncertainties arising from coupled ecological and economic models and (2) identify efficient and robust spatial landscape configurations. One case study involves designing landscapes for nation-wide grassland and woodland reversion from arable crops in the UK. These research findings will inform public policy that support sustainable natural capital management in the face of climate change.
He graduated with a BSocSc (ranked first in the Geography class of 2017) and MPhil in Geography from the University of Hong Kong. He was awarded both the HKU Outstanding Research Postgraduate Student award and the Dr. Stephen S. F. Hui Prize in Geography for his MPhil thesis focusing on environmental economics.
