About

Daniel Brent is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education at Pennsylvania State University. His role involves developing the next generation of leaders and bringing usable, science-based information to the public. His research focus is not explicitly detailed on the page, but his position within the department suggests a specialization in agricultural economics, rural sociology, or related fields. As an associate professor, he contributes to both teaching and research activities, supporting the department's mission to foster a welcoming community of learners engaged in community development, environmental issues, and food systems.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Economics
• Business
• Political Science
• Microeconomics
• Geography
• Engineering
• Environmental science
• Ecology
• Marketing
• Environmental resource management
• Agricultural economics
• Social psychology
• Psychology
• Transport engineering
• Environmental economics
• Agricultural science

Selected publications

• Causal effects of urbanization and winter weather on salinity in the Delaware River Basin

  Journal of Environmental Management · 2025-07-19 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Salinity is increasing in freshwater reaches of rivers around the globe, including in the Delaware River Basin, located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. This study estimates the causal effect of land use changes on in-stream salinity concentrations in the Delaware River Basin. A 1% increase in urbanized areas increases salinity by 3 mg/L, or about 16%. Freezing precipitation, which leads to salt from deicing applications, also increases salinity, particularly in watersheds with developed land uses. Simulating salinity levels based on land use and climate projections indicates that, even in a warming climate with reduced deicing, more development increases in-stream salinity. • Urbanization significantly increases in-stream salinity levels. • A 1% increase in developed land raises salinity by 3 mg/L (16%). • Freezing rain events elevate salinity due to road deicer runoff. • Future projections show salinity increases despite climate warming. • Findings inform land use and climate policy for water quality resilience.

  PublisherDOI

• Enhancing Equity and Sustainability in Utility Assistance Programs

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2025-11-06

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Enhancing Equity and Sustainability in Utility Assistance Programs

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2025-11-06

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Consumer Preferences for Carbon and Calorie Menu Labels: Behavioral Adjustments and the Value of Information

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Causal Effects of Urbanization and Winter Weather on Salinity in the Delaware River Basin

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Peer Effects in Voluntary Environmental Policies: An Application to Urban Water Quality

  Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists · 2025-10-14

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The distributional impact of FEMA’s community rating system

  Agricultural and Resource Economics Review · 2024-01-03 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  Abstract Community Rating System (CRS) incentivizes investments in risk reduction above NFIP standards using discounts on insurance premiums. These discounts are cross-subsidized by increasing premiums in non-CRS communities. We examine the distribution of these subsidies and find that redistribution does occur, but the gains and losses are not economically large with 95% of households gaining or losing no more than 0.3% of household income. We also examine their relationship with other community characteristics and find that the strongest predictor of premium reductions is the underlying flood risk level within the community. Thus, CRS appears to reduce the cost of living in the riskier communities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Four birds with one stone? opportunities and challenges in adopting solar irrigation for a sustainable water-energy-food nexus with carbon credits

  Water International · 2024-05-24 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Carbon emission-led climate change affects food security. Although irrigation builds climate resilience and supports the stability of the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus, irrigation access and reliability are constrained by energy access, whereas increasing energy demand exacerbates carbon emissions. This feedback demonstrates the need to include carbon in the nexus, leading to a WEF–carbon (WEFC) nexus. Solar irrigation can be a four-way win, as it contributes to positive water, energy and food interactions without increasing carbon emissions. This paper empirically assesses farmer-owned solar irrigation in Gujarat, India, and identifies mechanisms for mainstreaming solar irrigation and stakeholders’ roles in the WEFC nexus.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The effect of financial education in college

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2023-02-17

  dataset1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The effect of financial education in college

  AEA Randomized Controlled Trials · 2023-02-17

  dataset1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Anke Leroux

  13 shared

• Lata Gangadharan

  13 shared

• Marie Claire Villeval

  Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon St Etienne

  10 shared

• Zack Dorner

  Lincoln University

  8 shared

• Allison Lassiter

  University of Pennsylvania

  8 shared

• Joseph Cook

  7 shared

• Paul A. Raschky

  6 shared

• Anca Mihut

  Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1

  5 shared

Education

• PhD, Economics

  University of Washington

  2013