The University of Waterloo Department of Economics celebrated Professor Margaret Insley’s 21 years of service this month with a retirement celebration at the Huether Hotel in Waterloo. A Water Institute member and Professor of natural resource economics, Margaret also served as Chair of the Department of Economics from 2011 to 2019.
Margaret Insley, Associate Professor, Department of Economics
Margaret is a Canadian economist whose research has examined optimal decisions under uncertainty related to the use of natural resources and impacts on the environment. She has explored a range of topics including water, forestry, oil, climate change, and hazardous waste. She has also researched how uncertainty in the future path of temperature due to climate change affects decision-making strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Margaret did her BA in economics at the University of Calgary and her MA at the University of Alberta. After completing her Master’s degree in the early 1980s, she worked in Calgary for six years as an economist for the energy company Nova. In the late 1980’s she moved to Ontario and in the 1990s began her PhD study in Economics at the University of Guelph, specializing in the economics of natural resources and the environment. Her thesis research examined optimal decision-making under uncertainty in the context of groundwater extraction and protection. She received her PhD in 1996 and in 2002 she accepted a position as a faculty member in Economics at the University of Waterloo, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses on natural resource economics and decision-making under uncertainty.
A recent study by Margaret and her PhD student was featured in a policy brief of the European Commission. The study entitled “Leaving your tailings behind: Environmental bonds, bankruptcy and waste clean-up,” illustrates how environmental bonds can encourage firms to meet their obligations and minimize waste during operations. Although the study focused on North America, the findings were also relevant across the EU.
“Margaret’s impressive career at the University of Waterloo involved applying optimal control techniques to a wide variety of highly complex real-world environmental challenges,” says Roy Brouwer, Executive Director of the Water Institute. “Margaret excelled in tailoring these methods to the problems at hand.”
During her career, Margaret supervised several MA and PhD students with interests in natural resource economics and she played a significant role in their academic and professional success.
Current Department Chair Lutz-Alexander Busch, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Economics describes Margaret as “an outstanding teacher and mentor.”
Margaret will be greatly missed by the Department of Economics and the Water Institute, but join us in wishing her all the best in her retirement!
Professor Margaret Insley’s retirement celebration at the Huether Hotel in Waterloo.