AgEcon Bytes: Celebrating Excellence

My research involves two components of environmental and natural resource economics: the valuation of environmental hazards and public goods, and the evaluation of related policies. I currently work on three major projects.

1. Coastal Flood Risk and Policies - This research explores how coastal flooding and associated policies affect coastal communities. The broader project is composed of several sub-studies focused on evaluating property amenity values, assessing the effects of coastal policies, analyzing the results of coastal conservation initiatives, and examining shifts in migration patterns.
2. Renewable Energy Development - This research focuses on the impacts of large-scale renewable energy projects and related infrastructure improvements. I am participating in a U.S. Department of Energy-funded project that examines development practices and site characteristics that support a “fast and fair” siting process for renewable energy. The study includes surveys of residents living near ten planned utility-scale solar installations across several states, along with qualitative and quantitative tracking of these sites to identify preferred practices and features. In addition, I am exploring the feasibility of integrating solar energy systems with agricultural production, also known as agrivoltaics.
3. Agricultural Conservation Practice - This research examines the varied impacts of agricultural conservation practices across different farming contexts. In collaboration with John Bovay, Xi He, and Le Wang, we employ causal machine learning techniques to analyze how factors such as crop type, climate conditions, and soil characteristics influence the effectiveness of conservation efforts. By identifying these heterogeneous impacts, our goal is to develop evidence-based guidelines that support the efficient and targeted adoption of conservation practices.

I am working with three excellent graduate students in topics related to renewable energy development.

1. Yi-Tien Liu just finished her first year in our Ph.D. program. She is investigating the heterogeneous impact of renewable energy sites on residential property values. She is also exploring other topics for her second-year paper.
2. Pardis Akbari is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the School of Public and International Affairs. She is working on her dissertation, which investigates multiple aspects of using agrivoltaics in urban fringe areas.
3. Anna Carroll is new to our Ph.D. program. We are pleased that she has decided to join our DOE project exploring fast and fair approaches to developing large-scale solar sites. She will be working on the survey design and implementation.

The qualities I typically seek are critical thinking, open-mindedness, and independence. I think involving students in the research process is critical, since this is an important experiential learning process for them to develop research skills and ways of thinking. We always find significant contributions from students when we create a favorable working environment for them. 

My current research focuses on evaluating the impacts of programs and policies in developing countries and the role of market structures of modern agricultural markets. Here are some details on three projects I am currently working on with graduate students and colleagues.

1. Integrated Pest Management in Bangladesh: Understanding the effects of an agricultural technology package called “integrated pest management activities (IPMA)” on agricultural outcomes of groundnut farmers in rural Bangladesh. Groundnut farmers in Bangladesh, like in other developing countries, suffer from low yields and productivity due to threats from pests and diseases, the negative effects of which can be reduced through an integrated pest management approach. Using a randomized experiment involving 800 farmers, we are implementing training and extension services to farmers to evaluate the effectiveness of IPMA on groundnut farmer outcomes.
2. Costs from Reduced Humanitarian Assistance in Somalia and Uganda: Climate change and conflicts have a tremendously negative impact on lives and livelihoods in many African countries. In Somalia, we are evaluating the effects of reduced humanitarian assistance from international organizations on welfare and food security outcomes of internally displaced populations from severe droughts and conflicts. Similarly, in Uganda, a country that hosts the highest number of refugees in Africa, we are measuring the humanitarian effects of reduced donor funding on refugees and host populations. Both these studies utilize state-of-the-art applied general equilibrium modeling and a reduced-form econometric approach implemented on primary household data.
3. Welfare Effects of Changing Consumption Patterns in the U.S.: The U.S. consumers spend more on food away from home than at home, and increasingly so in the last decade. We are investigating the welfare effects of this changing consumption pattern within a supply chain framework that also incorporates the high concentration and market power of the U.S. food manufacturing sector from the farm to the retailers. We utilize secondary data within an integrated demand and market structure framework to answer our policy-relevant research questions.

I am currently working with several graduate students from the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and the Department of Economics.

• Nandini Das, a 5th-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Economics, is working on the IPMA Bangladesh project. Two of Nandini’s three dissertation chapters are on topics of agricultural technology adoption in the context of groundnut farmers in Bangladesh. She also recently published a paper on the impacts of a financial literacy training program on refugee youths in Uganda in The Journal of Development Studies.
• Deepak Kumar, a 4th-year Ph.D. student, and Tao Qi, a 3rd-year Ph.D. student, both in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, are working on the Cost of Reduced Humanitarian Assistance project in Somalia and Uganda. Deepak’s research also explores the local economic effects of refugees in East Africa and of typhoons in Vietnam. Tao also works on food labels and food safety issues with my colleague, John Bovay, associate professor and Kohl Junior Faculty Fellow.
• Bheom Seok Kim, a 2nd-year Ph.D. student, and Kendyl Lewis, a 1st-year Ph.D. student, both in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, are working on understanding the welfare effects of changing consumption patterns in the U.S. They are advised by the co-investigator of the project funded by USDA NIFA, George Davis, professor and interim department head.

The graduate students who would be a great fit in my research program are those who are passionate about the application of economic theories and econometric tools in real-world problems. Students with strong foundations in microeconomic theory and applied econometrics have the prerequisites to be good researchers. However, the most important traits in graduate students for their success as researchers are their passion, hard work, and dedication towards their research, which fundamentally aims at improving the lives of people and societies.

The students can evolve within the research process by taking ownership of research projects, professionally interacting with donors, external collaborators, and with their willingness to constantly learn and improve their technical, written, and oral skills. Research can often be a lonely journey, so students with strong and resilient personalities tend to contribute more to research projects and become more successful researchers/professionals.

<< Listen >> Business entities, especially small business owners, take notice. Did you know about the “Beneficial Ownership Interest” law that passed on January 1, 2024? Jennifer Friedel, associate professor of practice and director of the VA Land Use-Value Assessment program, tells us all about it.

>> Listen >>  Farmers, listen up! If you want your farm to continue thriving long after you've passed, it's not enough to simply have an estate plan. You need a well-crafted succession plan as well. We ask Jennifer Friedel, associate professor of practice and director of the VA Land Use-Value Assessment program, what’s the difference between the two?