Keeping Track
May 2011
Calendar of Events:
May 2-7 |
Final Exams |
Congratulations and Names in the News:
The 2011 Agricultural Economics Annual Apex Awards:
This Award is presented by the Department of Agricultural Economics and is in recognition of those individuals with a strong connection to the Department of Agricultural Economics who have made outstanding contributions in their fields. The Apex Award represents the convergence of accomplishment in the lives of our honorees.
Our 2011 inductee's are:
David Hefty
Stacy Hefty
Ken McCorkle
Scott N. Mitchell
On May 5, 2011, there will be a retirement reception and “hanging” for John Connor from 2 to 3:30 PM in Krannert 661. Further information about this event will be forthcoming.
The Purdue Afghanistan Team was the winner of the 2011 Purdue Agriculture TEAM Award. Team Members: Rick Foster, Entomology, Ned Kalb, IPIA, James Lowenberg-DeBoer, IPAI, Kevin McNamara, AGEC, Jerry Peters, YDAI and George Van Scoyoc, Agronomy is helping Afghans rebuild their country’s agricultural economy by rebuilding their agricultural universities. It began in 1006, when Purdue obtained USDA and USAID funds for redevelopment of the Kabul University college of Agriculture. The team provides MS-level education for Afghan junior faculty to help them develop teaching and research skills. Expanding Purdue’s engagement, the team now identifies faculty who travel to Afghanistan to conduct workshops on curriculum development, disciplinary areas, and Extension methods at Afghan agriculture colleges and the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture. The team also supports applied education on Afghan agriculture for Indiana National Guard Agribusiness Development Team members deploying to Afghanistan. The Purdue Afghanistan Team’s efforts continue to be crucial in helping Afghans address their country’s problems.
The following faculty and staff were recently promoted:
Dr. Holly Wang – Associate Professor to Professor
Dr. Roman Keeney – Assistant Professor to Associate Professor
Administrative Professionals:
Meghan Alexander
Megan Sheridan
Betty Jones-Bliss
Otto Doering served on the Blue Ribbon Panel organizing USDA’s National Agricultural Landscapes Forum and moderated one of the sessions at the April 8th/9th meeting in DC.
Thought you would like to know:
On April 19th, the Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Economics hosted visitors from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Among their many visits while on Purdue’s campus, the delegates heard presentations from the Center for Global Trade Analysis and the Center for Food and Agricultural Business.
News from AGEC Graduate Students:
David Perkis, PhD Candidate will be featured as one of the “5 Students Who are Policy Makers” for the month of May at Purdue. Of the five, he is featured in a video.
The following Graduate Students have accepted employment:
Jessa Becker, MS Adayana Agribusiness Group as a Business Analyst
Julia Beckhusen, PhD US Census Bureau, Economist in the Social, Economic, and
Housing Statistics Division
Samuel Clark, MS Adayana Agribusiness Group as a Business Analyst
Nestor Rodriguez, PhD Visiting Assistant Professor, Dept of Ag Econ, Purdue
Graduate Student posters were presented at the Snyder Memorial Lecture Graduate Student Poster Competition on April 15th. The winning students and their poster entries:
- First Place: Patrick Ward (Ph.D.) - Disaster Risk, Social Vulnerability and Economic Development
- Second Place: Dan Sanders (Ph.D.) - Revisiting Working: Examining the relationship between commercial open interest in futures commodities and physical commodity stocks
- Third Place: Carson Reeling (M.S.) -The Potential for Exploiting Cross-Media Environmental Effects From Conservation Practices in Maize-Based Cropping Systems
- Third Place: David Widmar (M.S.) - The Economics of Using Distiller Grains in Small-Scale Beef Operations in Indiana
News from the AGEC Undergraduates:
|
Kim Hoeing Urooj Khan Jenna Langley Kyle Maple Christy Penner
Bailey Perry Josh Pottschmidt Addison Sheldon Michelle Steinbarger
Advisor: David L. Ortega
The Department of Agricultural Economics held their annual Undergraduate Awards Program on Wednesday, April 6th in the Dean’s Auditorium. Students were recognized for either their leadership in the Agribusiness Club, Farm Management Club or Agricultural Economics Envoy organizations; participation in the National Agri-Marketing Association Team and AAEA Quiz Bowl Team; and completion of the Undergraduate Honors Program.
Several students also received scholarships and awards for their performance in the classroom and their involvement with extracurricular activities.
The 2010-11 scholarship recipients are:
R. Dean Dyson Scholarship – Megan Dyson
Jim Hicks and Company Scholarship –
- Megan Broughton
- Kayla Culp
- Jenna Day
- Kendra Michel
- Keith Hoeing
- Danielle Haynes
- Sarah Jordan
- Travis Martin
- Josh Pottschmidt
- Jenna Rodibaugh
Indiana Society of Agri-Bankers Award – Danielle Haynes
Indiana Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers – Ashley Beeker and Samuel Koester
Farmers National Company Foundation Scholarship – Joel Putt
Marshall A. Martin Public Policy Scholarship – Amy Winter
National Pork Producers Scholarship – Sarah Jordan and Courtney Smith
Agricultural Economics Study Abroad Scholarships
- Thomas Atchley
- Jay Fiechter
- Michaelann Kresel
- Joshua Price
- Katherine Ryan
- Shelby Wade
- Erin Whittaker
Every year, the Department of Agricultural Economics selects one student from each class to compete for the College Outstanding Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Awards. In addition, the department recognizes the graduating senior with the highest academic g.p.a. with the Top Senior Scholar Award. This year, the department selected the following students:
Dept of Agricultural Economics Outstanding Freshmen – Travis Martin, Logansport, IN
Dept of Agricultural Economics Outstanding Sophomore – Ann Bechman, W Lafayette,
Dept of Agricultural Economics Outstanding Junior – Renee Foltz, Roachdale, IN
Top Senior Scholar – (4 students with a perfect 4.0.)
Emily Hirsch – Fort Branch, IN
Chelsey Mann – Cloverdale, IN
Yiyuan “Ewan” Xie – China
Li “Lee” Yuan - China
Dept of Agricultural Economics Outstanding Senior – Jamie Steiner, Berne, IN
News from the Indiana Council for Economic Education:
Economics Challenge Competition: On April 12, ICEE sponsored the annual Economics Challenge for high school students. There are two divisions – David Ricardo (regular economics) and Adam Smith (AP and advanced courses). Teams of students met simultaneously at three sites: Mishawaka, Indianapolis, and New Albany. Students took written test on micro, macro, and international economics. The top scoring teams at each site then met in an exciting Quiz Bowl to determine the site winner. The best written score from the site winners was crowned state champion.
The state champion in the David Ricardo division was from Carmel High School (teacher: Michelle Foutz). The state champion in the Adam Smith division was Penn High School in Mishawaka. (Teacher: Brian Liddell) Congratulations to both teams! The Adam Smith winner will compete in a regional competition and hopefully advance to NYC for the national finals. Indiana has always fared well in these competitions. Last year, the Carmel Adam Smith team finished 3rd nationally.
ICEE thanks the follow individuals/companies for providing finance support for the Econ Challenge: Patty Brademas, Indianapolis Power and Light, and Indiana American Water.
Herschel’s World of Economics – II! ICEE, working closely with the Ag Communications, has just produced five new DVD programs involving Herschel, a feisty dog puppet, played by puppeteer Lynn Grebus of Chicago. The programs were taped in the Purdue TV studio in front of a live audience of local elementary students. In the programs, “Dr. Day” teaches Herschel all about concepts such as saving and investing, profit, productive resources, productivity, specialization, supply and demand, and interdependence. The Herschel curriculum, designed for elementary students, should be ready by mid-summer. This DVD follows the first Herschel DVD, which is available at KidsEcon Posters (www.kidseconposters.com). At that site you can see a clip of Herschel in action from the first DVD. Both Herschel DVDs were supported financially by Teachers Credit Union.
News from Center for Global Trade Analysis:
Monica Woods has joined the Department as the Managing Director of the Center for Global Trade Analysis. She comes to GTAP from the University of Indianapolis where she held the position of Executive Director of Alumni Relations. Her office is Room 553 and her phone number is 49833.
For further information on the Center for Global Trade Analysis or the Global Trade Analysis Project, please visit: http://www.gtap.agecon.purdue.edu/
News from Center for Food and Agricultural Business:
Center Works with GSI Dealers to Craft Businesses
The center recently developed and deliveredGrowing Your Business: The Value of Business Planningfor GSI, the world’s largest manufacturer of steel farm bins, commercial storage grain bins and grain silos. The group of 46 GSI dealers, managers and executives convened April 26-28 at the Beck Agricultural Center in West Lafayette.
Dave Downey opened the program with a presentation about the business-planning process, which starts with developing a mission statement and identifying the company’s values. Scott Downey provided insight on sales and marketing management, covering topics such as leading the marketing effort, marketing direction, and selling and customer satisfaction. Freddie Barnard led the dealers through the basics of financial management, including financial statements, ratios, profitability and breakeven analysis.
Bernie Erven, professor emeritus at The Ohio State University’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, helped the dealers better understand human resource management issues, such as hiring and keeping the right people and managing succession. To help dealers more effectively manage the grain-bin building process, Brad Benhart, assistant professor of building construction management at Purdue, delivered a session focusing on construction site management, including scheduling and construction efficiency.
After each presentation on specific areas of the business-planning process, the GSI dealers used a workbook to develop a plan specific to their operation. Just prior to leaving Purdue, they shared their plans to the group and discussed possible modifications. They will use the plans to drive the future direction of their dealerships.
Travel, Speeches, Presented Papers:
Hertel, T., W., and Nelson Villoria, “GEOSHARE: Geospatial Open Source Hosting of Agriculture, Resource and Environmental Data”, seminar and discussion at the World Bank, April 25, 2011.
Nestor Rodriguez presented a paper at Informa Economics in Memphis, TN on March 30, 2011. The title was: Structural Change Via Threshold Effects: Estimating U.S. Meat Demand Using Smooth Transition Functions.
Ce Wu, based on the work with Philip Abbott and Finn Tarp, “Transmission of world prices to the domestic market in Vietnam”, presented to the 8th Midwest International Development Conference, April 15-16, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Farzad Taheripour, “Economics of Ethanol and Biofuels Policies”, Presented at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research, April 4th 2011.
Monica Miller Woods, Managing Director for the Center for Global Trade Analysis, presented at the Council for Advancement and Services of Education Spring Conference, April 15, 2011 at Purdue University in West Lafayette. Woods moderated a panel of board leaders entitled “Alumni Volunteers – Why You Do What You Do” and was a session host for a presentation entitled “Evolve or Die: The Future of Integrated and Digital Communication.”
Publications:
Hertel, T.W. and S. Rosch (2011) Climate Change and Agriculture: Implications for the World’s Poor, March 17, VoxEU, http://voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/6233
Mishili, Fulgence Joseph , Temu, Anna , Fulton, Joan and Lowenberg-DeBoer, J.(2011) 'Consumer Preferences as Drivers of the Common Bean Trade in Tanzania: A Marketing Perspective', Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, 23: 2, p. 110 — 127.
Brown, S.V., D.G. Nderitu, P.V. Preckel, D.J. Gotham, and B.W. Allen, 2011. “Renewable Poewr Opportunities for Rural Communities,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief Economist, Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, Washington D.C., accessed on April 20, 2011 at http://www.usda.gov/oce/reports/energy/RenewablePowerOpportunities-Final.pdf, 173 pages.
Hertel, T.W., 2011. “Alan Deardorff’s Contributions to Computational Analysis of International Trade”, in Comparative Advantage, Economic Growth, and the Gains from Trade and Globalization: A Festschrift in Honor of Alan V. Deardorff, edited by Robert Stern, University of Michigan Press.
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:
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