Diego Herrera
Diego Herrera
Dr. Diego Herrera is an environmental economist studying human development and forest protection policy. His economic modeling of watersheds and forests influences policy and investment strategies, including tropical forest protection financial instruments. Fr. Herrera holds a bachelor of science in economics from the Universidad de Costa Rica and a Ph.D. in Environmental Economics and Policy from Duke University.
Sonter, L. J., Herrera, D., Barrett, D. J., Galford, G. L., Moran, C. J., & Soares-Filho, B. S. (2017). Mining drives extensive deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Nature communications, 8(1), 1013.
Herrera, D., Ellis, A., Fisher, B., Golden, C. D., Johnson, K., Mulligan, M., … & Ricketts, T. H. (2017). Upstream watershed condition predicts rural children’s health across 35 developing countries. Nature Communications, 8(1), 811.
Herrera, D., Pfaff, A., & Robalino, J. (2019). Impacts of protected areas vary with the level of government: Comparing avoided deforestation across agencies in the Brazilian Amazon. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(30), 14916-14925.
Herrera, D., Cunniff, S., DuPont, C., Cohen, B., Gangi, D., Kar, D., … & Mountenot, M. (2019). Designing an environmental impact bond for wetland restoration in Louisiana. Ecosystem services, 35, 260-276.
Pfaff, A., Robalino, J., Herrera, D., & Sandoval, C. (2015). Protected areas’ impacts on Brazilian Amazon deforestation: examining conservation–development interactions to inform planning. PloS one, 10(7), e0129460.
Dr. Diego Herrera, originally from Costa Rica, received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Universidad de Costa Rica in 2007. In 2015, Dr. Herrera earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Economics and Policy at Duke University.
After completing his bachelor’s degree, Dr. Herrera became a Junior Researcher at the Environment for Development Initiative in 2008. From 2010 to 2015, while completing his Ph.D. at Duke University, Dr. Herrera was a Research and Teaching assistant.
After completing his Ph.D. in 2015, Dr. Herrera became a postdoctoral associate at the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Environment. In 2016, Dr. Herrera pivoted to the Environmental Defense Fund, where he was an Environmental Economist.
In 2020, Dr. Herrera joined The World Bank as an Environmental Economist at The World Bank. Dr. Herrera is interested in the intersection between forest protection and human development. At The World Bank, he supports the Environmental Global Practice, where he analyzes human, natural, and produced capital on a global scale to influence policy and investments. His work includes forest modeling, watershed ecosystem modeling, and tropical forest protection financial instruments.
Diego Herrera. (2024). Linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/in/diego-herrera-76598a3/
Survey and interviews conducted by Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Sustainability Initiative staff. 2022-2023. Yale University-School of the Environment. New Haven, Connecticut.
LinkedIn, 2024