Robert Halvorsen

Robert Halvorsen is a professor of economics at the University of Washington, Seattle. His area of focus area is environmental econ, resource economics and applied microeconomics.  He has written numerous publications on environmental economics. His most recent publication “explorations in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: Essays in honor or Gardner M. Brown was written with co-authors Gardner Mallard Brown, and David F. Layton.

Interested in taking a course from Professor Halvorsen? He teaches Econ 436, Econ 535, Econ 435, and Econ 454.

Cleaning out an office is not an easy task. UW Recycling has some guidelines to help you get rid of your unwanted items.

Following these procedures help your department:

• stay compliant with surplus and waste regulations
• avoid messes that could impact other occupants’ work
• keep custodians safe by not overloading the waste bins they collect

…and minimize items that could be sent to the landfill!

read more office cleanout tips

The 2026 Husky Sustainability Award winners have been named, with six annual awards along with three Legacy award winners.

This year's winners include students, faculty and staff who have demonstrated impact, initiative and leadership for sustainability. This is the 17th year the UW Environment Stewardship Committee has presented sustainability awards to recognize individuals and groups who lead the way in sustainability at the UW.

The winners will be recognized at an award ceremony on Wednesday, May 27 at 3:30 p.m. in the Kane Hall Walker-Ames Room. All are invited to attend...

UPDATE: Watch the recorded presentation.

This Earth Day, learn how the UW is working toward decarbonization and what progress we've made.

Join a virtual discussion on the UW's efforts to decarbonize the energy system of our Seattle campus on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 10:30-11:30 a.m. via Zoom.

For Earth Day 2026, UW’s Executive Director of Campus Energy, Utilities & Operations David Woodson and UW Sustainability Director Lisa Dulude gave an online presentation on the work around decarbonizing the Seattle campus energy system.

The discussion touched on why we're working to decarbonize, the need to shift our campus Power Plant from natural-gas powered boilers that provide building heat to electric heat pumps, some recent good news around state funding for an initial project, some success stories from existing work and more.

Cultural Harvest, a student-led project at the UW that celebrates food, culture, and community, is holding their Year-end event on May 21 from 2:30-5 p.m. in HUB 340. The event celebrates UNESCO’s World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development and features the Cultural Harvest showcase.

This event highlights student work that reflects a cultural experience connected to food — including identity, family, migration, language, place, memory, community, and food justice. Attendees...

Artists reimagined their waste into dynamic artwork in UW Recycling’s 2026 Trash Art Contest. Winning pieces ranged from a messenger bag made entirely of plastic bags to a lamp constructed from abandoned boat pieces retrieved from Puget Sound.

The contest prompts participants to construct artwork from items normally thought of as trash. Part of the submission process encourages artists to reflect on their personal waste or waste they see in their environment. This year’s winners effectively connected their...

The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) and UW Resilience Lab have Resilience and Compassion Seed Grants available. Students, staff, and faculty on all three UW campuses are encouraged to apply, and this application will remain open until April 26 at 11:59 p.m. Grants are available for up to $5,000.

The grants are for projects which:

• Foster connectedness, belonging, and community, and bridge gaps between groups on campus and beyond.
• Cultivate kindness, compassion, and gratitude across...

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is hiring four Solid Waste Policy, Planning and Outreach graduate interns. These paid positions will be working with SPU staff to support recycling and composting outreach for Seattle businesses and households, policy and planning activities, and program evaluation.

Applicants must be enrolled in graduate-level coursework, pursuing a degree related to Natural...

UW Recycling answers 10 common recycling myths that pop up on campus.

Read more recycling myths