AS desalination capacity expands in the United States and elsewhere, it raises questions about environmental and societal impacts. Research in the field of ecological economics could provide insights that help regions and the public evaluate whether to pursue and approve desalination proposals, and how to configure them. This paper explores the possible role of ecological economics in addressing many of these questions. Using California as a focal point, this paper identifies issues that are emerging as the number of desalination proposals increases and installed capacity grows. It then identifies existing literature; and frames the research needs. Research needs include improving desalination's ability to operate using intermittent, renewable power sources; understanding societal economic impacts including desalination's impact on marginally employed people; ecological impacts of desalination from a variety of perspectives, and (in the case of ocean desalination) governance of near-shore environmental impacts. Desalination research already spans multiple disciplines. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.