Thomas H. Douthat
Position: Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences
Phone: 225-578-4304
Email: tdouthat1@lsu.edu
Office: 2111 ECE Building
Lab: Douthat Environmental Policy and Governance Lab, 2177 ECE Building
Degrees
Ph.D.(s): Ph.D. City & Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology – School of City and Regional Planning, 2017
Juris Doctorate: J.D. Law, The University of Puerto Rico School of Law, 2008
Bachelor's Degree(s): B.S. Economics, Guilford College, 2003
Research Interests
Flood resilience; ecosystem services and benefit–cost analysis; environmental law, planning, and policy; science-informed public decision-making; fiscal and economic aspects of environmental systems
Awards & Honors
Gil-Lim Best International Planning Dissertation Award, ACSP (2017)
Fulbright Garcia-Robles Scholar, 2014 (Chiapas, Mexico)
Georgia Tech Presidential Fellowship, 2010-2014
Georgia Tech Professional Service Award, 2012
Classes Taught
Environmental and Natural Resource Policy
Environmental Law and Regulation
Selected Publications
Akhter, F., Douthat, T.H., Brand, M., Friedland, C., Mostafiz, R. B., & Rohli, R. V. (2026). “A conceptual framework for integrating ecosystem services and social welfare into flood hazard mitigation benefit–cost analysis.” Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 6(1), 015007.
Valladares-Castellanos, M., de Jesús Crespo, R., & Douthat, T.H. (2025). “Using machine learning for long-term calibration and validation of water quality ecosystem service models in data-scarce regions.” Science of the Total Environment, 1000, 180388.
Valladares-Castellanos, M., de Jesús Crespo, R., Xu, Y. J., & Douthat, T. H. (2024). “A framework for validating watershed ecosystem service models in the United States using long-term water quality data: Applications with the InVEST Nutrient Delivery (NDR) model in Puerto Rico.” Science of the Total Environment, 949, 175111.
Hyde, A., Habans, R., Valladares-Castellanos, M., & Douthat, T.H. (2024). “Insurance Coverage and Flood Exposure in the Gulf of Mexico: Scale, Social Vulnerability, Urban Form, and Risk Measures.” Water, 16(20), 2968.
Douthat, T. H., Akhter, F., Sanderson, R., & Penn, J. (2023). “Stakeholder perceptions about incorporating externalities and vulnerability into benefit–cost analysis tools for watershed flood risk mitigation.” Sustainability, 15(9), 7473.
Douthat, T., Morgan, J. D., Alibasic, H., Aneurim, G. (2019). Passive building characteristics, and summertime residential energy use: A spatial analysis of energy efficiency in Gainesville, FL. Building and Environment, 169. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132319307541
Douthat, T., Leigh, N. G. (2017). First Source Hiring: An Essential Tool for Linking the Poor to Employment or a "Dead Letter" Progressive Policy? URBAN AFFAIRS REVIEW, 53(6), 1025-1063.
De Jesus Crespo, R., Douthat, T., Pringle, C. "Stream Friendly Coffee: Evaluating the impact of coffee farming on high elevation streams of the Tarrazú coffee region of Costa Rica. Hydrobiologia, NA(NA), NA. https://www.springer.com/journal/10750