2022 Spotlight Series

My current research focus is on the application of new statistical methods for crop insurance rating, price analysis and market integration in international commodity markets, and Bayesian time series methodologies.

I enjoy helping students integrate into the community of academic economists and see their research ideas come to fruition.

There are two people who greatly influenced my career. The first is Dr. Walter Thurman who taught the first semester of microeconomics in my doctoral program. Dr. Thurman’s applications of price theory in agricultural markets drew my interest to agricultural economics. The second is Dr. Barry Goodwin. Dr. Goodwin was my Ph.D. advisor and his field course in agricultural production gave me my first taste of applied econometrics. He also gave me an appreciation for the statistical tools that economists use every day.

Persevere.

My favorite vacation was a combination trip to Hong Kong, southern China, and Japan.

AAEC faculty members provide expertise to support Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) programs throughout the state and share their scholarship with industry groups, policymakers, and consumers in Virginia, other states, and international organizations. Some of our faculty members’ Extension programs focus on food and agricultural policy; aquaculture, seafood, fisheries, and coastal economics; community viability; economic literacy; agricultural law; and land-use value assessment. Our outreach programs include domestic and international rural development; agricultural trade; commodity prices; risk management; and water resources; among other areas. I’m looking forward to seeing how AAEC Extension continues to grow over the next few years, especially under the leadership of our incoming VCE Director, Mike Gutter.

The most essential component of sustainability is long-run economic viability, which is intricately connected with environmental and social impacts. A sustainable farm is one that the owner’s great-granddaughter would be happy to inherit—not just content to inherit, but happy to inherit. To preserve a farm’s value over many decades, efficient production practices must be adopted. A farm’s soil and water resources should be conserved. Farm operators should consider marketing particularly desirable attributes of their products. Attention should be paid to ensuring that farm workers and operators maintain a good quality of life. Policymakers should also consider the aesthetic value of open farmland, the affordability of food, and the economic viability of rural communities. To view webinars, click here.

Credit to M.S. student Tim Pierce, with whom I wrote this summary, and Dan Sumner, a mentor of mine.

I’ve been involved in so many exciting projects, it’s hard to pick just one. I am very happy about the grant I was awarded last year, alongside Wei Zhang and Ford Ramsey, for a research project on the economics of on-farm food loss and waste. It is also exciting to be part of the RIPE partnership, which is a pilot program to pay farmers to implement climate-smart practices. As part of this project, along with Elinor Benami and Chi Ta, we will assess consumer demand for climate-smart products. 

The book that comes to mind first is "The Name of the Rose", by Umberto Eco. It can be read and understood and enjoyed on so many different levels—as a murder mystery, as a religious history, as a story about the intellectual process, as a book about books… I look forward to seeing how the meaning changes the third time I read it.

Freshly harvested wild (edible) mushrooms, sautéed in olive oil and butter. Especially hen of the woods, black trumpets, and chanterelles.

The program's mission is to foster the preservation of real estate for the agricultural, horticultural, forest, and open space use in the public interest.

I was raised on a small family farm, received a B.S. in Agricultural Sciences, and wanted to be an advocate and representative for agriculturalists and environmentalists, knowing that despite popular opinion, these two things are not inapposite. 

Challenging the status quo, celebrating the diversity of thought, and demonstrating the breadth of possibilities that lie ahead.

I had some extraordinary college and law professors who cultivated a sense of wonder and confidence that I didn’t realize in myself.  

My family owns and operates Point Pleasant Angus, a registered Angus seedstock operation with farms in Bland, Virginia, and Blountville, Tennessee. 

I was excited to rejoin the Agricultural and Applied Economics Department in the 2021 fall semester to give leadership to the development and launch of the OMALS' agribusiness concentration.  (I taught in the undergraduate program in the department from 1993 to 2010.)  While the fully online program was designed with the working professional in mind to provide agribusiness management, marketing, finance, and policy content to assist in career advancement, it is also a great fit for recent bachelor's graduates who want to pursue a career in the broad field of agribusiness as described below.

I really enjoy learning about students' educational and/or employment journeys that brought them to our master's program and then learning about their goals for the future. It is rewarding to guide them through their coursework where we all learn from each other and bring different backgrounds and perspectives to the course content.  I am always amazed at the level of engagement and interaction in the discussions in our fully online courses. Seeing students grow and succeed in their careers is a favorite outcome of our work together.

I have been blessed with a number of highly influential people in my educational and career journey.  I am a proud 1986 and 1989 B.S. and M.S. alumna of the Virginia Tech Agricultural and Applied Economics Department, and I was taught by some of the pre-eminent scholars in the field. 

I started out as an Animal Science Pre-Vet major, as I had wanted to be a veterinarian from the time I was five years old growing up on our family farm.  As a Virginia Tech freshman, though, I took an ag elective, Economics of the Food and Fiber System, with Wayne Purcell, an alumni distinguished professor emeritus who passed in 2018, and that course literally changed my life.  I fell in love with the field of agricultural economics, learning the theory that underlies both producer and consumer decision-making.  I changed majors and went on to take courses with David Kenyon, David Kohl, and Leon Geyer, all of whom helped to inspire me to continue my education and ultimately become a college professor. 

Upon completion of my master's degree, I left for a Ph.D. in Economics at Duke University with the goal of returning to the department that shaped me as a student.  I was fortunate that the department had an opening the year that I graduated: I defended my Ph.D. dissertation on July 13, 1993, moved to Blacksburg on July 14, and started as an assistant professor in VT Ag Econ on July 15.  A few years later, I had the honor of teaching that same course that had introduced me to the field, and I was thrilled when students told me that the course led them to change their major to Ag Econ, bringing things full circle.

While a number of people know that I enjoy playing competitive softball, few know that I have broken my leg three times while playing, once in high school and twice while a VT Ag Econ professor.  After the third time, I created a sign for my desk after answering the same questions so many times: "I broke my leg sliding into home; no, it's not the same leg as last year; no, I'm not quitting playing softball."  Twenty-seven years after posting that sign, I'm still enjoying playing!

I am an Applied Microeconomist in regional development with specializing in labor, education, and economics of disparities. My research broadly focuses on differences in labor market outcomes (wages, employment), educational attainment, and health by gender, race, or disadvantaged individuals. 

I am excited to be in the new role in such a wonderful department. I look forward to strengthening the area of regional development and applied microeconomics in our program. This includes working with fellow faculty and students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. 

There is an indescribable feeling of seeing your students reaching their potential. It is incredible to see that “Aaah” moment for students when they finally understand a concept or can apply theory from the classroom to everyday life.  

I have been fortunate to have had several mentors throughout my life. Dr. Nadine McCloud (University of West Indies, Jamaica) motivated me to pursue not only my Master's but my Ph.D. I was not even considering these options, and to have this woman in a male-dominated field motivating me to pursue this was invaluable.

Dr. Christopher Hanes (Binghamton University) taught me that an economist does not fit one mold as one can pursue various interests in many areas that benefit the general population.

Lastly, Dr. Marlon Tracey (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville) has been a mentor and coach in developing my research program and areas. He helped me evolve my econometrics skills and broaden my research horizons. He also shaped my teaching philosophy in trying to connect with students beyond coursework.

I hope to have a similar impact on my students as a mentor, as I would not be where I am today without these individuals.

I love to watch Anime. My favorite shows are Kuroko’s Basketball and Bleach. I usually get suggestions from my students, so I have a running watch list!

I finished my B.S. in physics and M.S. in economics in mainland China and came to the U.S. for my Ph.D. degree in agricultural economics at the University of Connecticut. 

I will develop and lead a comprehensive, externally-funded research program in the area of environmental and resource economics that utilizes advanced computational facilities and techniques. In addition, my teaching focus will be on data analysis with Python and environmental economics.

As a faculty member, you have more experience, but it also means it’s harder for you to change your mindset and how you see things. Students provide a fresh angle on every aspect of your research, teaching, and the application of related skills in real life. It’s also extremely satisfying when you find students inspired by your course, research, or casual conversations. 

I cannot name just one single person, as all my committee members from the University of Connecticut, Charles Towe, Stephen Swallow, and Kathleen Segerson, were very helpful and inspiring. Nancy Bockstael and Eric Schultz also helped and inspired me in a very significant way. I learned a lot from them in every aspect, not just regarding the coursework and research. 

I’m mainly driven by curiosity. 

I got my Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Connecticut. I also hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree in economics from Beihang University. I just finished my postdoc training at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University.

I’m excited to join AAEC as an assistant professor in computation economics, with a focus on agricultural trade and food policy analysis. I’ll work closely with other colleagues and students within the Center for Agricultural Trade and AAEC.

I have benefited from mentors who guide me to understand and address issues that interest me. I love sharing my knowledge and providing students with analytical tools. It’s my pleasure to assist students in becoming self-motivated and active learners and to see them succeed and contribute to society.

Richard Dunn, one of my Ph.D. committee members at the University of Connecticut, taught me many things. The most important takeaway I always keep in mind is to focus on things that I am good at and that interest me.

I come from a small town in Hubei, a province in central China, and I love Sichuan and Hunan spicy food. I am very interested in how different foods exchange and spread across the world.

I am interested in the way individual employee differences affect the organization. The biggest topic I am concerned with is organizational succession to pass along knowledge and intentionally prepare and develop the next wave of leaders – this is generativity. I investigate generativity as it relates to both mentoring and employee turnover (leaving the company). For employee socialization and retention this means studying employees’ commitment to and satisfaction at work, identification with their company, extra-role work behaviors, servant leadership and compassion.

Fostering student development and engagement as they work toward obtaining their goals – namely their first position in their working career!

This is a tough one because there are so many good quotes. At the end of the day, the great ones point back to something that has been said in a book I read daily. A father guides his children in all things of life demonstrating his wisdom, mercy, grace, and love for them so that they would endure and be filled with strength, peace, hope, and joy to persevere until the end.

Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself – or allow others to do so! Dream jobs are mostly fictional, but if they exist they are rarely the first job out of school, change because you realize things are a little different in reality, or you change along the way. SO … explore, ask questions, and discover what you don’t know, what you want to know, and what you need to know to figure out who you can learn from. This will make future career decisions based on your knowledge, rather than intuition or assumption.

I LOVE breakfast food, but also fruit and pizza in that order. Of course, it is impossible to pass up bacon and spicy food. So that rounds out my top five, I guess – which would be followed closely by seafood, steak, dairy, pastries, and pie … I could go on and on! Did you say favorite foods, right??

Currently, my research agenda is quite varied. I am always intrigued by economic problems (read I cannot shut my brain off) and am willing to use diverse econometric methods to solve them.

In a series of papers with one of my Ph.D. advisees, we are exploring projects related to the commodity markets. In one of the related papers, we explore the role of animal diseases in commodity price volatility. We aim to assess how these diseases affect prices at the retail level and the consumers’ responsiveness to said price changes. In another paper, we seek to explain the observed premium between grass-fed and grain-fed beef.

With another advisee, we are focused on regional and labor market issues. We seek to explain the low labor force participation rate that continues to plague the Appalachian region.  The policy suggestions from this study are aimed at helping policymakers to better bolster the labor market (both nationally and regionally) at different stages of the business cycle.

Admittedly, I am most passionate about Macro-Finance issues. For that, I have several current projects focused on the role of oil market shocks and economic variables on foreign currencies.

To challenge my students and see them grow.

It is the most fulfilling feeling to see a student who comes into my class without the requisite coding skills and then the quality of their assignments and questions improve over time as they build proficiency. 

Currently, it would be The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

While there are many notable quotes in that book, I find that this one resonates with me most: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

Though dedicated more towards war, I see this quote as a personal challenge to understand myself and those I work with better. We have diverse points of view and opinions and only by understanding both sides will we be able to harmoniously coexist.

Be willing to challenge yourself and never settle for the path of least resistance. Always anticipate ways you can improve and be valuable to your future employer (even if that is you).

I am not a big foodie.

I however appreciate a good meal and trying new dishes. Bugs are not currently on that list though.

I currently work on bee-friendly beef! The project aims at addressing pollinator decline by integrating native warm-season grasses and wildflowers into the traditional pasture to create a biodiverse forage system suitable for cattle and pollinators. 

We will evaluate the potential of this biodiverse-enhanced grazing system from various angles.  

On the consumer side, we will assess whether consumers would be willing to pay a premium for beef raised on wildflower-enhanced pasture. On the producer side, we will estimate the economic feasibility of converting traditional pastures into wildflower-enhanced grazing systems. We will also survey cattle producers to identify the profile of high potential adopters, perceptions of, and willingness to establish native warm-season grasses and wildflowers pastures. 

I am also involved in two projects led by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT in Malawi and Zambia. The first project aims at strengthening the value chain coordination from bean breeders to farmers to address bean seed production and supply system challenges. The second project aims at developing and commercializing processed legume-based products that will be nutritious and well-accepted by consumers.  

Working with graduate students!

The Little Prince. It is a charming philosophical story that I first read as a school assignment, like most students in Quebec, where I grew up. Each time I would read the book again, the story would take on a new meaning. The most famous quote for this book is: “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Go for what you love and be open to new opportunities and ideas, and you will be successful. 

I would say chocolate, but since I tell my children that chocolate or candies don’t count as ‘food’, it would be pizza. Other favorites include lamb, crepes, cherries, and raspberries.