Keeping Track
October 2010
Calendar of Events:
October 11-12 |
October Break |
Congratulations and Names in the News:
Indiana's State Utility Forecasting Group recognized Otto Doering during their 25th anniversary celebration for his service as the first director of SUFG.
Over the next year, Wally Tyner will co-chair the Indiana Energy and Environment Commission. It will produce policy briefs on important energy and environmental issues facing the state.
Thought You Would Like to Know:
Bruce Erickson is teaching Fundamentals in Applied Agronomy, an online course offered by the American Society of Agronomy. 114 students are registered, a new record, representing 33 states, five Canada provinces, and Zimbabwe. The course runs for 12 weeks. Bruce developed the course and it offers live interactive learning sessions, recorded segments, worksheets, case studies, and assessment tools to estimate student’s mastery of the materials. For more information see: https://www.agronomy.org/fundamentals-in-applied-agronomy
News from GTAP:
Jevgenijs Steinbuks has joined the Center for Global Trade Analysis as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate. His research interests are in the areas of energy and financial economics with much of his work focusing on understanding the effect of public policies on household and firm investment behavior. Jevgenijs will be involved in a collaborative effort with the Center for Robust Decision Making on Climate and Energy Policy at the University of Chicago on modeling opportunities in agriculture for climate change mitigation as well as climate impacts and will also coordinate data collection and dissemination for the GTAP-E Model. Jevgenijs was previously a post-doctoral research associate in the Electricity Policy Research Group at the University of Cambridge. He holds an MSc in Economics from University of Warwick and a PhD in Economics from the George Washington University.
Jevgenijs will be working under the direction of Tom Hertel with the Center on Decision Making Under Uncertainty based at the University of Chicago. He will be focusing on opportunities in agriculture for climate change mitigation as well as climate impacts, in the context of the CIMEarth modeling framework currently under development at the University of Chicago.
Jevgenijs’ contact details follow:
KRAN 567
494-4321
jsteinbu@purdue.edu
News from Center for Food and Agricultural Business:
Agribusiness Managers Learn Decision-Making Tools at Center Workshop
In September, managers from across the country attended Structuring Decisions: Innovating Through Turbulence, a two-day program that introduces and illustrates tools allowing decision-makers to analyze problems in their companies. Center Director Allan Gray and Professor Mike Boehlje led participants through a process of bringing definition and structure to decision-making, where uncertainty is a given and innovation is a mandate. Through lecture, case study analysis, and decision-making tools, such as heat mapping and risk scorecarding, the group developed a reasoned, systematic approach to making important decisions and mitigating downside risk.
Land O’ Lakes Managers LEAP Toward the Future
The seventh and final residency of the Land O’Lakes Executive Agribusiness Program (LEAP) was held in September in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The participants, 34 top managers from Land O’Lakes and its member cooperatives, attended sessions on strategy presented by Professors Mike Boehlje and Allan Gray, as well as a session on branding, led by Associate Professor Scott Downey. Mitch Eviston, vice president of marketing at Winfield Solutions, also addressed the participants. Other sessions were taught by Land O’ Lakes staff, including Karen Grabow, senior vice president of human resources and business development services; Deb Suhadolnik, director of organizational effectiveness; and Bob Cummins, manager of learning and development.
During the 18-month program, participants worked in teams to develop Pinnacle Projects, which allowed them to gain "hands-on" experience utilizing the tools and concepts from the program. While in Minneapolis, each team presented their project to members of Land O’Lakes’ senior management team, as well as CEOs from cooperatives associated with Land O’ Lakes. The group ended the week with a graduation ceremony held at the Minnesota History Center.
National Conference Presents Many Opportunities for Agribusiness Professionals
The 2010 National Conference for Agribusiness will be held November 16-17 at the Purdue Memorial Union. The conference, designed to give agribusiness professionals an opportunity to explore how they can push boundaries and discover new ways to grow in various management areas, will feature a number of exciting sessions:
- Sam Rovit, head of global agribusiness practice at Bain & Co., will describe how agribusiness companies can outperform their competition by clearly identifying and defining their core business—what they do best
- Purdue Professor Allan Gray will facilitate a guest industry panel focusing on capital market challenges, as seen through the eyes of a leading agricultural lender, a cooperative chief financial officer, and a large commercial producer
- Carl Hausmann, managing director of global government and corporate affairs at Bunge Limited, will present his company’s methods for embracing sustainability as part of their corporate strategy. Afterward, Professor Mike Boehlje will lead a panel discussion focusing on sustainability as an opportunity for growth and innovation. Panel experts will discuss how sustainability has transformed their daily business activities, from their communications and advertising promotions to their R&D and operational procedures
- Purdue Professor Gebisa Ejeta, 2009 World Food Prize winner, will address agriculture’s responsibility for innovation. He will make a case for how agribusinesses can help revitalize agricultural research to improve the lives of the one billion people who still suffer chronic hunger
- Professor Scott Downey will address techniques that sales teams can use to integrate their efforts and the obstacles they must overcome to be successful
- Carolyn Wiethoff, associate professor at Indiana University, will present the latest research on the Millennial generation, and give agribusinesses tips on recruiting and retaining Millennials, as well as managing them after making the hire
To learn more, visit www.agecon.purdue.edu/cab/programs/nca.
News from Indiana Council for Economic Education (ICEE):
ICEE hosted its Annual Awards for Excellence Program on Friday, September 24 at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. Ag Econ Head, Ken Foster, and Vice-Provost for Engagement, Vic Lechtenberg, attended. To see photos of this gala event, so to the ICEE website: www.econed-in.org.
ICEE will host the 10th annual Econ Camp on October 12-13 at Camp Tecumseh near Brookston. The popular Econ Camp is for high school teachers of economics. So far, 32 high school teachers have registered for this training program. Joan Fulton and Wally Tyner will be Camp speakers. For more information go to www.econed-in.org/econcamp.asp.
ICEE Executive Director, Harlan Day, has been elected to the national Board of Directors of the Council for Economic Education, based in New York City.
Travel, Speeches, Presented Papers:
Juan Sesmero will be presenting two posters at the Heartland Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop, October 17th and 18th.
Titles of the posters are:
- An implementable Index of Sustainability and Assessment of Energy Policy
- Allocation of Allowances in Cap and Trade and Pareto Efficiency
Alla Golub, Thomas Hertel, Farzad Taheripour and Wallace Tyner. "Modeling Biofuels Policies in General Equilibrium: Insights, Pitfalls and Opportunities". Alla Golub presented the paper at workshop "Economic Models of Land Use and Biofuels" at University of Illinois, Champaign, IL, September 27, 2010.
Presentations at the World Cowpea Conference, Saly, Senegal, Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 2010:
- Miriam Otoo, Joan Fulton, Germaine Ibro and J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, “Value-Added Processing of Cowpeas in West Africa: Cowpea-Based Street Food Enterprises in Niger and Ghana.”
- Clementine L. Dabiré-Binso, Antoine Sanon, Malick N. Ba, Dieudonné Baributsa, James Lowenberg-DeBoer, et Larry Murdock, “Expérience originale et efficace de diffusion de la technologie PICS au Burkina Faso.“
- Antoine Sanon, Clémentine Loule Dabiré/Binso, Niango Ba Malick, Dieudonné Baritbutsa, et J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, Larry Murdock, “Evaluation de la réutilisation des sacs PICS et de leur usage pour la conservation d’autres denrées dans les zones de diffusion de la technologie du triple ensachage au Burkina Faso.“
- T. Abdoulaye, Bamikole Ayedun, S.A Musa, J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, D. Baributsa, “Adoption of PICS bags in the Northern Nigeria: a case study of Jigawa, Kano and Katsina States.”
- Dieudonné Baributsa, J. Lowenberg-DeBoer and Abdou Kamarou Djibo, “Cell phone video for communicating hermetic cowpea storage skills.”
- J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, Baributsa, D., H. Fabries, “The challenge of supply chain development for cowpea technology in developing countries.”
- Germaine Ibro, J. Lowenberg–DeBoer, et Musa Shehu, “Potentiel pour un développement effectif de la participation des femmes dans le sous secteur niébé à Kano.“
- J. Lowenberg-DeBoer and Mike Jones, “Economics of Maize Storage in Ghana: Return Possibilities for PICS bags vs. Alternative Storage Technologies.”
Posters at the World Cowpea Conference, Saly, Senegal, Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 2010:
- Bokar Moussa, Dieudonné Baributsa, and J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, “Adoption of Hermetic Storage for Cowpea in Niger and Burkina Faso in 2010.”
- Ayo Abifarin, T. Abdoulaye and J. Lowenberg-DeBoer, “Extension of Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage Technology: Impacts and Challenges Case Study of Plateau State Nigeria.”
Publications:
John M. Connor:
- Recidivism Revealed: Private International Cartels 1990-2009. Competition Policy International Vol. 6, No. 2 (Lindsay McSweeney editor, Autumn 2010).
- Problems with Prison in International Cartel Cases. Terry Calvani editor, Antitrust Bulletin: Special issue on Cartel Sanctions and Deterrence (accepted 8/30/2010 forthcoming Spring 2011).
- Has the European Commission Become More Severe in Punishing Cartels? Effects of the 2006 Guidelines. European Competition Law Review ( accepted August 11, 2010; forthcoming January 2011).
Erickson, Matthew J. and Tyner, Wallace E. “The Economics of Harvesting Corn Cobs for Energy.” Purdue Extension ID-417-W (September 2010).
Internship Opportunities:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/careers/intern_research.htm
http://www.fsdinternational.org/intlopps/programs/internships1
http://www.fcnl.org/young/intern.htm
http://www.uschamber.com/careers/internships/default
http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.asp?c=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=317257
Job Announcements:
University of Connecticut: IO Econometrics
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Associate or Adv Assist Prof – Natural Resources
Kansas State University: Assistant Professor – Agribusiness
Cornell University: Assist/Assoc Professor, Agricultural Business and Finance
University of Nebraska: Entrepreneurship Business Econ Dev position
University of Vermont: Extension Assist Prof – Ag Financial Management Specialist
University of Florida: Assist Professor – Housing and Community Development Specialist
ERS: http://www.ers.usda.gov/AboutERS/Employment/OpportunitiesPage.htm
Career and Job Sites on the Internet:
| Purdue | http://www.purdue.edu/jobs |
| AAEA Job Posting | http://www.aaea.org/classifieds/ |
| Academic Employment Network | http://www.academploy.com/ |
| Academic Position Network | http://www.apnjobs.com/ |
| Agriculture Career Connection | http://www.ag-biz.com/ |
| Community Colleges, misc | http//www.aacc.nche.edu/ |
| Chronicle of Higher Education | http://chronicle.com/jobs/ |
| Congressional Budget Office | http://www.cbo.gov |
| Education Jobs Page | http://www.nationjob.com/education |
| Employment/Resume Posting | http://galaxy.einet.net/GJ/employment.html |
| EPA | http://jobs.quickhire.com/scripts/epa.exe |
| Foreign Ag Service | http://www.fao.org/VA/vac_en.htm |
| Government Career | http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ |
| National Job Bank | http://www.jobs.joe.org |
| USDA, Ag Research Service | http://www.ars.usda.gov/careers/docs.htm?docid=11797 |
For further information, see the Job Posting File in Room 651
Contact Lou Ann Baugh concerning information to be included in future issues of KT
Keeping Track Monthly Newsletter Archive