Elena Irwin

Elena Irwin is a Distinguished University Professor at Ohio State University in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics and the faculty director and co-founder of the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State University. Currently she also serves as a Faculty Fellow in the Office of Academic Affairs to lead a university-wide effort that is engaging faculty, staff, students, employers, and other external partners to develop a transformational vision for advancing sustainability research, education, and community engagement at Ohio State University.

Irwin's research focuses on the economics of land use and development in urban, urbanizing, and agricultural regions, including spatial models of land, water, and ecosystem services. She has led research projects totaling over $19 million, with funding from the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other private and public agencies. Her current research includes development of a dynamic model of food, energy, and water systems for the Great Lakes regional economy and models of land use and management systems under a changing climate. As a professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, she advises graduate students and teaches in the Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability undergraduate major, a program she co-founded in 2012 and that has graduated over 500 students to date.

Irwin co-directs the Sustainability Institute, including leading and facilitating interdisciplinary research programs and sustainability curriculum development across the breadth of the university. She mentors the institute's core faculty and collaborates with faculty leaders on research development of the Sustainability Institute's priority areas of healthy air, land, and water; sustainable and resilient communities; and sustainable energy. She co-leads the Sustainability Education and Learning Committee, which catalyzes new education programs and courses in sustainability at the undergraduate and graduate levels across the university.

Irwin is an appointed member of the U.S. EPA Scientific Advisory Board. In 2022 she was selected as a fellow of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists and in 2023 as a fellow of the Applied and Agricultural Economics Association. Irwin holds an undergraduate dual degree in history and German from Washington University and a Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the University of Maryland.