I am a Professor and Director of the Masters of Science in Quantitative Economics (MQE) program in the Department of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh. I am also a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh I was on the faculty of the University of Colorado. My research is focused in the area of urban and environmental economics. In more recent work I have been particularly interested in looking at these issues through the lenses of economic history and political economy.