Jussi Lintunen has been appointed as Associate Professor at Natural Resources Institute

Jussi Lintunen, Doctor of Philosophy, has been appointed to the position of associate professor in Economics and Policy of Renewable Natural Resources at Natural Resources Institute (Luke). The five-year contract started on September 1, 2023.

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Lintunen has worked as a researcher at Metla and Luke since 2007 and as a Senior Scientist from 2021. In the years 2019–2021, he worked at the University of Helsinki, among other things, as a university lecturer at the Department of Forest Sciences and as a researcher at ETLA Economic Research (Etla).

What can be expected in this new five-year period? What themes are your assignments focused on? 

– My research area covers the economic analysis of the effects of policy actions on forests and other renewable natural resources, including economic, environmental and climate policies. Forests are subject to many kinds of expectations, e.g. from the perspectives of climate change, biodiversity and economy. Some of the expectations are conflicting, which is why there is even more demand for impact analyzes of policy actions targeting forests. Economic analyzes require the use of increasingly sophisticated models.

Lintunen will work in Luke's Bioeconomy and Environment unit.

– Lintunen's appointment also strengthens Luke's financial modelling. In the longer term, Luke's goal is to complement sector models representing partial equilibrium models with a general equilibrium model, which would enable the assessment of the national economic effects of policy changes targeting different sectors of the natural resource sector. Lintunen's excellent knowledge of sector models is also useful in this endeavour, comments unit's Development Manager Jyrki Aakkula.

Research professors are key to Luke's scientific expertise and international visibility and impact. The aim is to ensure excellence in research for Luke in strategic areas, as well as its usefulness to business life and industry.