Dr. Joy E. Hecht
consultant
traveler
writer
photographer

My professional life is devoted to work on environmental issues in the developing world. I am something of a data geek, and derive great pleasure from analyzing tangled problems through the application of logic and numbers. I've had a chance
to do that in many contexts and many parts of the world, and I usually even get paid for it, so I consider myself quite lucky.

My life as a consultant gives me considerable freedom, which I've taken great advantage of over the past ten years. From 2004 to 2006 I explored the United States and Canada in an old VW vanagon named Matilda;
you can read about that by clicking on the "travels
with Matilda" link to the left. In the fall of 2006,
having tired of life on the road, I moved back into my home in Arlington, Virginia; some posts about that can be accessed by clicking on the "life in one place"
link. In 2007, I went back on the road for another year or so; a bit of information about that is available through "back on the road again."

The last place I visited in the van in 2006 was Newfoundland. Rather to my surprise, it instantly felt like home to me. After a lot of trips back and forth, I have now moved there. When I'm not on the road,
I can be found in St. John's, the provincial capital and almost the easternmost spot in North America. It's a different world - if you're heading this way,
please do get in touch!

I've always been a graphic designer "on the side," dating back to the days of x-acto knives, rubylith, and transfer type. Since I bought my first digital camera, I've also done a lot of photography. Recently, I'm returning to my early interests in graphic design, looking for design opportunities wherever I can find them. You can see some of the results by clicking on the "photography and graphics" link to the left.

For more information about any of this,
please feel free to contact me.
Chances are, I'll even reply!


Latest update - Environmental governance project in Lebanon

Since March 2014, I have been working on a European Union-funded project in the Lebanese Ministry of Environment, "Support to Reforms / Environmental Governance," or StREG. I am the team economist, working on environmental fiscal instruments. My work has focused on possible uses of economic instruments in solid waste management, quarry management, and industrial pollution control.

More information about this work is available here.