Robert B. McKusick, Ph.D.,
Vice President and Senior Principal
Lora Kay McKusick, B.A., GPS/GIS Manager and Associate
Duane A. Paul, Ph.D., Senior Consultant and Senior Associate
Dr. Paul has 28 years of experience in financial analysis,
agricultural economics, industry and resource analysis, benefit-cost analysis,
land-use planning, and environmental analysis. He has spoken before many audiences
and has testified as an expert witness before the California State Water Resources
Control Board.
Dr. Paul has a B.S. degree in Agricultural Business Management from California Polytechnic University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California at Davis. He joined NEA in 1991 and since that time has directed or participated in more than 50 major studies. The projects have included critical issues of resource use and efficiency, environmental impacts, benefits and costs, economic and social impacts of resource shortages, policy analysis, and financial analysis. He also has directed studies to analyze the economic impacts of legislation at the federal and state levels.
Dr. Paul led NEA’s extensive analysis of the regional economic impacts of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) as part of a programmatic EIS. Dr. Paul integrated into the analysis separate impacts of the CVPIA on agricultural, recreational, and municipal water users. In a separate study, he analyzed the impacts of proposed changes in wildlife habitat standards on farmers in the Tulare Lake Basin of California. In addition, he has completed or contributed to several studies that address the impacts of droughts and other resource shortages on local economies.
Dr. Paul has directed or contributed to several benefit-cost studies, including an assessment of the regional economic impacts and benefits and costs of rules and regulations implementing legislation applying to federal water projects. He also completed benefit-cost analyses of proposed flood control projects and of proposed irrigation systems on several Indian Reservations.
Dr. Paul’s background in commercial banking complements his experience and education in economics. Working in commercial lending for the Bank of America, he regularly completed complex project analyses and risk-return computations in support of borrowing requests. He applied quantitative risk-analysis tools in analyses of regional industries throughout Southern California
