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Michael Cary

Instructor
Michael Cary
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Location:

250 Drillfield Dr.
301 Hutcheson Hall
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Contact:

macary@vt.edu
(540) 231-7731

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curriculum vitae
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I am an Instructor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. I teach courses including Foundations of Agribusiness, Rural and Regional Development Policy, Economics of the Food and Fiber System, and Applied Economic Analytics.

Expertise: Applied econometrics and economic analytics; environmental and natural resource economics; rural and regional economic development

Education

  • Ph.D., Natural Resource Economics, West Virginia University, 2023
  • M.A., Economics, Virginia State University, 2014
  • B.A., History, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011

Cary's research primarily lies within environmental economics and focuses on the economic consequences of air pollution and the effectiveness of policies designed to address air pollution. He commonly intertwines this with ideas and methods from urban and regional economics and creates and uses network theoretic methods in his research.

Beyond this, he is interested in gender and race economics and agroforestry economics.

Current projects include:

  • Local Labor Market and Land Use Effects from Deforestation Caused by an Invasive Species
  • Job Growth and Environmental Degradation
  • The Impact of Road Quality on Nearby House Prices
  • Breaking the Tape but Not the Glass Ceiling: Competitiveness and Gender

  • AAEC 1005 – Economics of the Food and Fiber System
  • AAEC 2434 – Foundations of Agribusiness
  • AAEC 4324 – Rural and Regional Development Policy
  • AAEC 5014 – Applied Economic Analytics 
  • AAEC 5244 – Rural Development

  • Instructor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, 2026-Present
  • Research Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Virginia Tech, 2023-2026
  • Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant, Division of Resource Economics and Management, West Virginia University, 2019-2023
  • Data Scientist, WVU Center for Alternative Fuels, Engines, and Emissions, 2017-2019 

Awards

  • 2026 Virginia Tech Diggs Teaching Scholars Award
  • 2022 Westarctica Conservation Scholarship for Best Ph.D. Dissertation

  • Cary, Michael, and Mario Ortez. "Gone with the wind: Renewable energy projects and population change." Energy Economics (2026): 109303. 
  • Cary, Michael. "Time zones, productivity, and discontinuities in the spatial equilibrium." Cities 175 (2026): 107198. 
  • Cary, Michael. "Post-Kyoto emissions in the United States." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 209 (2025): 115068. 
  • Cary, Michael. "Climate policy boosts trade competitiveness: Evidence from timber trade networks." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 188 (2023): 113869.