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Randall Kramer

Juli Plant Grainger Professor Emeritus of Global Environmental Health
Environmental Sciences and Policy
Box 90328, Durham, NC 27708-0328
9 Circuit Drive, 4115 Environment Hall, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Before coming to Duke in 1988, he was on the faculty at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He has held visiting positions at IUCN--The World Conservation Union, the Economic Growth Center at Yale University, and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank, World Health Organization and other international organizations. He was named Duke University's Scholar Teacher of the Year in 2004.

Kramer's research is focused on the economics of ecosystem services and on global environmental health. He is currently conducting a study on the effects of human land use decisions on biodiversity, infectious disease transmission and human health in rural Madagascar. Recent research projects have used decision analysis and implementation science to evaluate the health, social and environmental impacts of alternative malaria control strategies in East Africa. He has also conducted research on health systems strengthening, economic valuation of lives saved from air pollution reduction. and the role of ecosystems services in protecting human health.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Juli Plant Grainger Professor Emeritus of Global Environmental Health · 2021 - Present Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
Professor Emeritus of Environmental Economics · 2021 - Present Environmental Sciences and Policy, Nicholas School of the Environment
Research Professor of Global Health · 2011 - Present Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers
Affiliate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society · 2014 - Present Duke Science & Society, University Initiatives & Academic Support Units

In the News


Published March 9, 2025
In the Heart of Vanilla Country, Farmers on the Climate Frontlines Struggle to Adapt
Published November 14, 2023
Community Collaboration Takes Aim at Failing Septic Systems and Environmental Injustice
Published June 6, 2017
Randall Kramer Named Interim Director for Global Health Institute

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Recent Publications


Impact of price shocks and payments on crop diversification and forest use among Malagasy vanilla farmers

Journal Article Biological Conservation · February 1, 2025 Crop diversification can help buffer farmers from market volatility and provide alternatives to unsustainable export-driven cash crop monocultures that are also driving forest clearing. We developed a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and an innovative tabl ... Full text Cite

Disentangling social, environmental, and zoonotic transmission pathways of a gastrointestinal protozoan (Blastocystis spp.) in northeast Madagascar.

Journal Article American journal of biological anthropology · November 2024 ObjectivesUnderstanding disease transmission is a fundamental challenge in ecology. We used transmission potential networks to investigate whether a gastrointestinal protozoan (Blastocystis spp.) is spread through social, environmental, and/or zoo ... Full text Cite

Failing septic systems in Lowndes County, Alabama: citizen participation, science, and community knowledge

Journal Article Local Environment · January 1, 2024 The United Nations has estimated that 2.8 billion individuals across the world will not have access to safely managed sanitation in 2030. In the accounting of global sanitation access, local inequities often are invisible to those counting, especially give ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


US-Israel Collab: Market Integration, Land Use, and Pathogen Transmission in Rural Madagascar

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2023 - 2028

The Impact of Land Use Change on Transmission Potential Networks and Disease Spread in Rural Madagascar

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2025

One Health Innovation Fellowships for Zoonotic Disease Research in Mongolia

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEAdvisor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2019

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of California, Davis · 1980 Ph.D.
North Carolina State University · 1976 M.E.
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · 1975 A.B.