Daniel D. Moran
Environmental Economist and Senior Data Scientist
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Profile
Dr. Moran is a Forsker I (equivalent to a teunured Research Professor in the US system) using applied data science to address quantitative research questions in environmental economics. He is an active contributor to the development and application of input-output models to track resource flows embodied in supply chains. Before starting his academic career Daniel worked on Wall Street pricing ESG risk at MSCI and assisted the Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Romer. Daniel began his career building the original Ecological Footprint accounts and working at several dot-com startups in his native California.
Key words: data science; industrial ecology; environmental economics; carbon footprinting; biodiversity footprints; embodied water; scope 3; consumption-based accounting; LCA; input-ouput; material flow analysis; high performance computing
Google Scholar (11,000+citations; H-index 44) |
ORCiD | LinkedIn |
Publons
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Contact
Email: daniel.moran@ntnu.no
Tel. +47.735.939.88
Industrial Ecology Program
Department of Energy and Process Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Høgskoleringen 5, Trondheim 7034, Norway
On campus: Realfagbygget E4-156
Grants and Awards
- Clarivate/Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher in 2019, 2020, 2021
(awarded for producing multiple papers in the top 1% of most-cited papers) - Top 1% cited researcher 2020 - Stanford/Elsevier/Scopus
- The Economics of Planetary Boundaries (Partner; €1,925,000 FORMAS. 2020)
- Young Research Talent Grant: The Environmental Footprint of Cities, a New Approach (PI, $900,000, NFR. 2019)
- Value-at-risk to global supply chains from disruption to ecosystem services (PI, $50,000, United Nations Environment Programme. 2018)
- The Carbon Loophole in Climate Policy: Quantifying the Embodied Carbon in Traded Products (PI, $100,000, ClimateWorks Foundation)
- FOOTPRINTS2.0: Linking Spatial GIS Data to MRIO Global Economic Models (wrote proposal; lead researcher, €650,000, NFR. 2016)
- University of Sydney Faculty of Science Scholarship for Postgraduate Research. 2010-2013. €97,000.
- 2015-2019. Contributing researcher. PRINCE: Policy-relevant indicators for national consumption and environment (total budget $1,500,000 Funder: Sweden/MISTRA)
- 2013-2016. Contributing researcher. CARBON CAP project on demand-side emissions reductions strategies (total budget €3,500,000, funder EU FP7)
- 2011-2014. Contributing researcher. CREEA project on environmental and economic accounting practices (total budget €4,400,000, funder EU FP7)
Press
I prioritize doing work that is robust, useful, and topical. I strive to clearly communicate and visualize science. Uptake of my work includes:
- The study I led on mapping biodiversity footprints of products, printed in Nature Ecology & Evolution, was widely covered in the press, including by National Geographic, Scientific American, TIME, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
- Our paper on the scope of individual action to reduce the EU's global carbon footprint was discussed in a special report by The Economist about what individuals and companies can do to reduce their Scope 3 emissions.
- OpenGHGMap.net, which maps CO2 emissions for 108,000 EU cities, has received >300,000 views. In 2022 I presented this work at the US National Academies of Science.
- The Eora global supply chain database which I helped develop and continue to maintain, documents >5 billion global supply chains and their embodied carbon and resource footprints. That model has supported over 1,000 scientific papers, underpinned research results appearing in Nature and PNAS, and is is used by the UN, IMF, World Bank, and a number of large firms (names withheld).
- Our study on Scope 3 carbon footprint of 13,000 cities globally (citycarbonfootprints.info) was covered by Scientific American, National Geographic, Newsweek, the World Economic Forum, and Forbes, among others.
- Our seminal study on calculating biodiversity footprints published in Nature was widely covered in the press, including by Scientific American, BBC, Reuters, Le Monde, and many national magazines and newspapers (see #11 below). My colleague Edgar Hertwich wrote a nice commentary about the paper.
Teaching and Supervision
As a teacher I emphasize critial thinking and quantitative skills.
- Input-Output Analysis, Trade, and Environment (TEP4222, 7.5 ECTS credits), head instructor 2021, 2019; co-instructor 2022, 2020
- Industrial Ecology and Input Output Analysis (EP8119, 7.5 ECTS credits, doctoral seminar), course lecturer. 2021, 2022
- Invited instructor on Lund University's SAIL sustainability course in 2016. The course was held aboard a working square-rigged ship. My group rebuilt the original World3 system dynamics model as an offline, paper-based classroom game.
- Lecturer, EDGE Summer School, Bratislava School of Economics. 2017.
- Supervision: Johannes Többen (postdoc), Heran Zheng (postdoc), Kajwan Rasul (PhD), Max Koslowski (MSc), Milda Petersone (MSc)
Qualifications
- 2013 - PhD, School of Physics, The University of Sydney
- 2007 - MS, Environmental Studies and Sustainability, Lund University
- 2001 - BA, Philosophy, Whitman College
Other Resources
- Co-PI: Eora MRIO
- PI: Carbon Footprints of 13,000 Cities project
- PI: OpenGHGmap project estimates direct CO2 emisisons for 116,000 cities and counties in Europe.
- For authors: 9 tough questions to help sharpen your paper