Cannabis Policy Geographies: Licensed and Unlicensed Cultivation Across Ban and Permit Jurisdictions
Michael Polson, Staff Researcher
Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
Accurately estimating unlicensed cultivation is crucial for assessing and designing interventions into the illicit market. This project aims to demonstrate the potential for accurate assessment of the amount and geography of unlicensed production in California with empirically-based data on cannabis cultivation, improved mapping tools, and robust ethnographic fieldwork. The research delves into the role of policy in affecting unlicensed cultivation by examining data across a gradient of policy factors (e.g., bans, permits, abatements, license limits etc.) in California’s 58 counties. The data will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of cultivation bans and permits in addressing unlicensed cultivation and subsequent environmental harms.
Role: This project offers undergraduates the opportunity to work on cutting-edge research involving the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Computer Vision Annotation Tool (CVAT), and data from the California State Water Boards. Students will primarily focus on quantitative tasks, including GIS-based mapping of cannabis cultivation sites and annotating output from object identification machine learning models. Additionally, there will be opportunities for qualitative work, such as writing policy briefs, collating demographic and historical information, and preparing policy memos related to cannabis regulation and its environmental impacts.
Qualifications: The ideal candidate for the cannabis policy geographies project will be a student interested in the interplay between policy, assessment tools, and socio-environmental governance. Experience with qualitative and quantitative analysis software such as Nvivo and ArcGIS Pro is a plus. However, this project welcomes undergraduates with little or no experience in these fields, offering them the chance to develop their skills as research scientists, collaborate with state agencies, and serve as an integral part of a research team. Necessary qualifications include effective and reliable time management, accountability and communication, the ability to work independently or as part of a team, and a passion for research.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Chris Dillis, Staff Researcher
Hours: to be negotiated
Off-Campus Research Site: All work is remote, except for occasional in-person as needed.