He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (2002) in Public Policy. The core of Prof. Noonan's research is at the intersection of environmental, urban, and cultural economics, emphasizing the provision of and adaptation to urban amenities. This includes projects on economic valuation of environmental and cultural resources, the determinants of state arts agency funding, and the economics of historic preservation. He is currently developing new projects on measuring the "sense of place" people have for cities and on identifying the optimal mix of new and old elements in the built environment. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Cultural Economics.