ORONO  — Catherine L. Kling will present the University of Maine’s third annual Libby Lecture in Natural Resource Policy on Thursday, Sept. 19.

The Cornell University professor will present the 3 p.m. lecture, “Improving Water Quality: Are Economics and the Environment Always at Odds?” in the McIntire Room of the Buchanan Alumni House.

The event is free and open to the public. A reception with refreshments and food will follow the talk.

Kling will describe trends in water quality and the benefits and costs of regulations associated with the Clean Water Act. She also will discuss the gaps in knowledge needed for a more accurate understanding of the efficiency of water quality regulations.

Kling is the Tisch University Professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and the faculty director at the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future at Cornell University. She  is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, chair of the academy’s Water Science and Technology Board and has been a member of six National Research Council studies. She served as president of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, has held editorial positions at 10 economics journals, and is an elected fellow of multiple environmental economics associations. Kling also served 10 years on the EPA Science Advisory Board.

The  annual Libby Lecture in Natural Resource Policy was established with a gift from Lawrence W. Libby ’62 and Lois Murdock Libby ’63. The annual lecture is a collaborative event coordinated by the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture and the  College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

More information about the lecture is online at https://umaine.edu/libbylecture/.

For additional information about the lecture, speaker, or to request a disability accommodation, call 207-581-1212 or email libby-lecture-group@maine.edu.