Van Butsic is an adjunct fellow at the PPIC Water Policy Center and a cooperative extension specialist at UC Berkeley. He studies how people make land use decisions; how these decisions are impacted by policy; and ultimately, how these decisions change the environment.  His work in California focuses on wildfires, forests, and ecosystem services. He is a co-director of the Cannabis Research Center at UC Berkeley and a member of the California Department of Agricultural Industrial Hemp Advisory Board. He holds a PhD in Forestry and an MA in agricultural and applied economics, both from the University of Wisconsin; and a BA in economics from Reed College.