CV

Education

• PhD in Economics of Education, University College London (UCL), 2026 (expected)

  Thesis: The Impacts of Novel Upper Secondary Vocational Qualifications in the UK and English and Maths Resits

• MMS in Economics (first class honours), University of Waikato, 2023

  Thesis: Pro-environmental behaviour change for nature: Empirical and theoretical evidence from a field experiment in Aotearoa New Zealand

• BBus in Economics and Chemistry, University of Waikato, 2021

Work experience

• Oct 2023 - Current: PhD Researcher
  • Education Policy Institute (EPI)
  • Role includes: Collaborating on education research projects, writing proposals, reports and blogs, and analysing UK education data.
• Mar 2022 - Mar 2024: Research Assistant
  • Lincoln University, New Zealand
  • Role included: Evaluating a set of mental health programmes for undergraduates. Assisted with survey design, led the quantitative impact evaluation and contributed to mixed methods research papers.
• Nov 2021 - Aug 2023: Researcher in Environmental Economic (formerly intern)
  • Envirostrat, New Zealand
  • Role included: Collaborating on client-driven research projects in the areas of natural capital accounting (UN-SEEA), conservation finance and land use conversion modelling.
• Mar 2021 - Mar 2023: Research Assistant
  • University of Waikato, New Zealand
  • Role included: Research support to an environmental economist, using applied econometrics in R and Stata. Contributed to research papers across environmental, behavioural and health economics.
• Nov 2019 - Mar 2020: Summer Research Scholar
  • University of Waikato, New Zealand
  • Role included: Developing a business case for seaweed farming/cultivation in New Zealand. Awarded runner-up for research poster and made it to the national finals for the Eureka Science Communication Awards.

Skills

• Research
• Data analysis
• Stata
• R
• Git
• Communication
• Teamwork
• Impact evaluation
• Economics

Publications

Protecting and restoring freshwater biodiversity across urban areas in Aotearoa New Zealand: Citizens reporting of pollution in stormwater drains and waterways

L McLeod, D Hine, T Milfont, Z Dorner, N Tassell-Matamua, R Maris*, J Kitson, P Stahlmann-Brown (2024). "Protecting and restoring freshwater biodiversity across urban areas in Aotearoa New Zealand: Citizens reporting of pollution in stormwater drains and waterways." Journal of Environmental Management. 351(1).

Wellbeing education increases skills and knowledge among tertiary students in the agricultural sector: insights from a mixed methods study

L Winder, N Stanley-Clarke, R Maris*, A Hay & J Knook (2024). "Wellbeing education increases skills and knowledge among tertiary students in the agricultural sector: insights from a mixed methods study." Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension. 351(1).

Building connections in health and wellbeing education: Qualitative findings of a study with New Zealand agricultural students

A Hay, N Stanley-Clarke, R Maris*, L Winder, & J Knook (2024). "Building connections in health and wellbeing education: Qualitative findings of a study with New Zealand agricultural students." Health Education Journal. 351(1).

Optimism Bias as a Barrier to Accessing Mental Health Support Amongst Tertiary Students

N Stanley-Clarke, A Hay, R Maris*, A Ryan, J Knook & L Winder. (2024). "Optimism Bias as a Barrier to Accessing Mental Health Support Amongst Tertiary Students." Higher Education Research and Development.

Economic growth theory and natural resource constraints: a stocktake and critical assessment

R Maris & M Holmes. (2023). "Economic growth theory and natural resource constraints: a stocktake and critical assessment." Australian Economic Review. 56(2).

Are views of water bodies associated with higher water consumption? An empirical analysis from New Zealand

R Maris & Y Matthews (2023). "Are views of water bodies associated with higher water consumption? An empirical analysis from New Zealand." Water Resources and Economics. 42(1).

An analysis of operating profit margin: a valuable tool for New Zealand dairy farmers

R Maris & Z Dorner (2023). "An analysis of operating profit margin: a valuable tool for New Zealand dairy farmers." New Zealand Economic Papers. 57(3).

Individual and Combined Effects of Predatory Bug Engytatus nicotianae and Trichoderma atroviride in Suppressing the Tomato Potato Psyllid Bactericera cockerelli in Greenhouse Grown Tomatoes

E Veronesi, S Cairns, H Alizadeh, J Hampton, R Maris, W Godsoe, S Goldson & A McCormick (2023). "Individual and Combined Effects of Predatory Bug Engytatus nicotianae and Trichoderma atroviride in Suppressing the Tomato Potato Psyllid Bactericera cockerelli in Greenhouse Grown Tomatoes." Agronomy.

The labour market trade-offs of pet ownership

R Maris and M Cameron (2023). "The labour market trade-offs of pet ownership." Economics and Business Letters. 12(1).

Talks

Volunteering for nature generates behavioural spillovers, increases pro-environmental orientation and improves wellbeing: A field experiment

September 06, 2024

Talk at Advances with Field Experiments (AFE) 2024, London, UK

Nudges and Monetary Incentives: A Green Partnership?

July 02, 2024

Talk at European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) Summer Conference 2024, Leuven, Belgium

How Do First-Time Experiences Affect Future Behaviour and Attitudes - A Field Experiment on Volunteering for Nature Restoration Groups

June 01, 2023

Talk at Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE) Summer Conference 2023, Portland Maine, US

Designing Field Experiments to Promote Volunteering for Urban Restoration Groups

February 09, 2023

Talk at Australasian Agricultural & Resource Economics Society (AARES) 2023 Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand

Fostering Freshwater Conservation in Urban Populations: Insights from Field Experiments in New Zealand

September 01, 2022

Talk at New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics (NZARES) Society Annual Conference 2022, Nelson, New Zealand

Social Media and the evolution of vaccine preferences during the Covid-19 pandemic

June 29, 2022

Talk at New Zealand Association of Economists (NZAE) Annual Conference 2022, Wellington, New Zealand

An analysis of operating profit margin: A valuable tool for New Zealand dairy farmers

February 09, 2022

Talk at Australasian Agricultural & Resource Economics Society (AARES) 2022 Conference, Virtual presentation

Teaching

Principles of Social Science Research: POLS0007

Data Analytics with Business Applications - BUSAN 205

AARES 2023 Conference: Pre-Conference Workshop on RCTs

Economics for Business and Management: ECONS 101

Reviewing

Have reviewed papers for the following peer-reviewed journals:

• Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (AJARE)
• Cogent Psychology (Cogent Psychol)

Community

• 2013 - now: Football referee
  • Currently affiliated with London Football Association
  • Formerly New Zealand Football and WaiBOP Football Federation
  • Train regularly and referee matches on Saturday and Sunday
  • Invited to referee at two international youth tournaments (Kanga Cup) in 2017 and 2018
• 2024-now: Student representative in the IOE at UCL
• 2021-2023: Invited member of the University of Waikato Scholarships Committee (student representative)
• 2016-2020: Other volunteering, including high-school tutoring, community events, football coaching and rubbish clean-ups

Selected awards and achievements

• 2023-2026 UBEL ESRC PhD Studentship
• 2023-2026 William Georgetti Scholar
• 2022 New Zealand Association of Economists (NZAE) Jan Whitwell Prize for Best Masters/Honours Presentation; New Zealand Association of Agricultural and Resource Economics (NZARES) Postgraduate Award
• 2022 Masters Research Scholarship from Manaaki Whenua for Strategic Objective 2 of the Biological Heritage National Science Challenge
• 2019-2022 Five Subject Awards at University of Waikato (Economics and Science)
• 2018-2021 Te Paewai o te Rangi: Scholarship for Outstanding Academic Achievement
• 2018-2021 Kelliher Charitable Trust Economics Scholarship