Graduate Program and Dissertation
During the completion of my PhD, I was required to take exams in five fields. One of the fields I selected was regional economics due to Morris Garnsey, who was one of my dissertation advisors. As a part of regional economics, I attended a seminar on water in civil engineering and economics with Garnsey and Ernie Flack, a professor of civil engineering.
During that time, Garnsey influenced me to study the effects of water meters, moving from a zero marginal price of water per gallon to a positive marginal price, which eventually became my dissertation topic.
Colorado School of Mines
While I was completing my graduate studies, the Colorado School of Mines called the Boulder economics department and requested someone to teach Principles of Economics. After speaking with Garnsey, I took the job, which ended up being extremely rewarding. At Mines, I developed courses in mineral economics and petroleum economics, which were the first ones ever taught at Mines.