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PREISM 2009
PRESENTERS/DISCUSSANTS
BIOS
Dr. Linda Abbott
is a regulatory risk analyst with USDA’s Office
of Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis (ORACBA),
where she reviews regulatory risk assessments, provides
advice on risk assessments, and collaborates with other
USDA agencies to identify areas where risk assessment
could produce valuable information for regulatory decisionmakers.
She reviews and provides guidance on ecological risk assessments
on conservation practices, agricultural chemicals, and
invasive species. Linda has a Ph.D. in Biology-Ecology
from Utah State University.
Mary Bohman is
Director, Resource and Rural Economics Division. Mary
joined ERS in 1997 and has served as Deputy Director for
Research for ERS's Market and Trade Economics Division
(MTED) and Chief of MTED's Europe, Africa, Middle East
Branch. Other positions held include details to the Office
of Science and Technology Policy and Under Secretary for
Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, and faculty member
in Agricultural Sciences at the University of British
Columbia from 1990 to 1997.
Craig A. Bond is
an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics at Colorado State University. His
current research interests span the environmental and
resource economics field, including stochastic dynamic
modeling related to resource use and adaptive management,
resource valuation, and consumer choice. He earned his
Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis.
Anton Bekkerman
is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural
Economics and Economics at Montana State University. He
holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from North Carolina
State University, and a B.B.A. from Loyola College in
Maryland. His work on invasive species includes risk analysis
of soybean rust in the U.S. as well as an examination
of alternative indemnification programs for losses due
to wind-borne diseases. Anton’s professional interests
include invasive species, price and basis analysis, risk
analysis, and applied econometrics.
Jon Bossenbroek
is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental
Sciences and Lake Erie Center at the University of Toledo.
The primary goal of his research is to apply the theories
and concepts of landscape ecology to applied issues, such
as invasive species biology and ecosystem management.
His current research projects include modeling the potential
risk of zebra mussels to the State of Colorado, predicting
the economic benefits of slowing the spread of emerald
ash borer in Ohio and Michigan, and understanding the
community ecology of darter species in Ohio rivers.
Janie M. Chermak
is a Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics
at the University of New Mexico. She earned her Ph.D.
at the Colorado School of Mines. She is an applied natural
resource economist with a focus on interdisciplinary research.
Areas of research include energy, water, and climate change,
as well as invasive species. She currently serves as an
Associate Editor for Water Resources Research.
Woodam Chung is
an Associate Professor of Forest Operations in the Department
of Forest Management at The University of Montana. He
received his Ph.D. in Forest Engineering from Oregon State
University in 2002. At The University of Montana, he teaches
courses and conducts research in the fields of geographic
information systems, forest management planning, and woody
biomass utilization. He has been active in the development
of decision-support systems using GIS for forest management
planning, invasive species management, and forest fuels
treatments..
Keith Coble is a
Giles Distinguished Professor at Mississippi State University.
Coble has published over 55 scientific research journal
articles - most addressing agricultural risk management.
Other major research areas include modeling farm policy
alternatives, and experimental evaluation of risk decisionmaking.
He is an Associate Editor of the American Journal
of Agricultural Economics and currently chairs the
Applied Risk Analysis section of the AAEA.
Kelly Cobourn
earned a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics
at the University of California, Davis in 2009, and is
currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Economics at Boise State University.
Neilson C. Conklin
was named President of Farm Foundation in January 2008.
Dr. Conklin previously served as Director of the Market
and Trade Economics Division of USDA's Economic Research
Service (ERS). In that role, he initiated the ERS research
program on the economics of bio-energy, and directed development
of new modeling frameworks on global trade policy analysis.
Before joining ERS in 1999, he spent six years at the
Farm Credit Council as Vice President and Chief Economist
worked at the Office of Management and Budget, and had
teaching assignments at Arizona State University, the
University of Arizona and Colorado State University.
John Drake is an
Assistant Professor in the Odum School of Ecology at the
University of Georgia. He received his Ph.D. in 2004 from
the University of Notre Dame for research on invasions
of aquatic nuisance species introduced to the North American
Great Lakes during ballast water discharge. As a postdoctoral
fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis
and Synthesis from 2004 to 2006, he developed an interested
in machine learning, data mining, and computational statistics.
Much of his current research aims to apply these tools
to applied problems in the ecology of invasive species,
emerging infectious diseases, and population extinction.
Mark Eiswerth
is an Associate Professor of Environmental and Natural
Resource Economics at the University of Northern Colorado.
His main current areas of research include the economics
of water resources; the economics of outdoor recreation;
and the optimal management of nonnative invasive species.
Prior to joining the faculty at UNC in 2009, he has served
at the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, the University
of Nevada–Reno, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
(in Massachusetts), Resources for the Future (in Washington,
DC), and a large energy and environmental consulting firm.
He received his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland and
B.A. at Colorado College.
Levan Elbakidze
is an Assistant Professor at the University of Idaho,
Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.
His research interests pertain to pest and invasive species
management, water resource management, climate change
adaptation, and experimental auctions. He currently teaches
Natural Resource Economics and Production Economics at
undergraduate and graduate levels respectively.
George Frisvold
is a professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics
at the University of Arizona. Previously he has been Chief
of the Resource and Environmental Policy Branch of USDA's
Economic Research Service. In 1995-96, Dr. Frisvold served
as a Senior Economist for the President's Council of Economic
Advisers, with responsibility for agricultural, natural
resource, and international trade issues. Currently, he
serves as Co-Editor of the Review of Agricultural
Economics. His research interests include domestic
and international environmental policy, as well as the
causes and consequences of technological change in agriculture.
Rachael Goodhue
is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis.
Her current research interests include agricultural marketing
and contracting, pest management, and agri-environmental
regulation, especially regulation of pesticides.
Ben Gramig is an
assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural
Economics at Purdue University. His research and teaching
programs are primarily in the area of natural resource
and environmental economics. He has a strong interest
in livestock disease management and the interface between
agriculture and the environment. His interests are largely
motivated by public policy and the jointly determined
nature of biophysical and economic outcomes. Ben completed
his Ph.D. in agricultural economics at Michigan State
University; his M.S. in agricultural economics and his
B.S. in Natural Resource Conservation and Management are
from the University of Kentucky.
Gregory C. Gray is
a Professor of Epidemiology and International Programs
in the University of Iowa's College of Public Health.
He directs the College's Center for Emerging Infectious
Diseases. He received his M.D. from the University of
Alabama at Birmingham, and his MPH from Johns Hopkins
School of Hygiene & Public Health. He has authored
more than 150 publications in the peer-reviewed medical
literature. He is the principal investigator for large
prospective cohort studies of zoonotic influenza transmission
in Cambodia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Romania, and Thailand.
William F. Hahn is
an economist working for the USDA’S Economic Research
Service (ERS). He has been working at ERS since 1986 and
is co-leader of the Program of Research on the Economics
of Invasive Species Management (PREISM).
Fen Hunt is the National
Program Leader for the Environmental and Resource Economics
Program at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
This program encompasses a breadth of economic issues,
such as invasive species, water supply and quality, climate
change, renewable energy, land use and conservation, ecosystem
services, and nature-based recreation. She received her
Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the
University of Hawaii at Manoa and her B.S. and M.S. in
land economics and resource management at the National
Cheng-Chi University in Taipei, Taiwan. Prior to joining
the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Fen worked
in academia, the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture,
and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Her passion is to conserve natural resources for the health
and well-being of people, economy, communities, and the
environment.
Greg Jones is a
Research Forester with the Rocky Mountain Research Station
of the U.S. Forest Service, located in Missoula, MT. He
received a Ph.D. in Forest Economics from Iowa State University
in 1976. Current research is in the areas of landscape-scale
analysis of forest fuel treatment economics, utilization
of forest residues created by mechanical fuel treatments
for energy production, and decision support for invasive
species management.
John Korslund
is a staff epidemiologist with USDA-APHIS-Veterinary Services'
National Surveillance Unit at the Centers for Epidemiology
and Animal Health (CEAH) in Fort Collins, CO, and previously
was a staff veterinarian from 2003 to 2008 with the Aquaculture,
Swine, Equine and Poultry Team in the National Center
for Animal Health Programs. His areas of emphasis include
swine regulatory program and foreign animal diseases and
related epidemiology, surveillance, and information technology
development issues. Prior to government service, he owned
and operated a 700-sow, farrow-to-finish swine and row
crop production operation for 25 years and served on many
committees related to swine production and health. He
received his certificate in the Executive Veterinary Program,
University of Illinois, in 2000 and his D.V.M. from Iowa
State University in 1976.
Jan Lewandrowski
is the economist for USDA’s Global Change Program
Office (GCPO). His duties include evaluating options to
reduce farm sector greenhouse gas emissions and increase
carbon sequestration in terrestrial sinks, as well as
assessing the potential roles of land-use change and bioenergy
in addressing climate change goals. Jan spent 15 years
with USDA’s Economic Research Service, where he
published on a wide set of economic issues at the interface
of natural resources and agriculture, including climate
change, wildlife conservation, and invasive species management.
Jan has a Ph.D. in resource economics from North Carolina
State University.
Erik Lichtenberg
is a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource
Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park,
and a co-editor of the American Journal of Agricultural
Economics. He served as senior economist for agriculture,
natural resources, and international trade on the staff
of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers
in 1993-1994 and was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina
in 1998. Before coming to Maryland, he was a Pew Fellow
in Health Policy at the University of California-San Francisco
and Director of Environmental Economics at the Western
Consortium for Public Health in San Francisco, CA.
Thomas L. Marsh
is a Professor in the School of Economic Sciences and
Director of the IMPACT Center at Washington State University.
He teaches Ph.D. courses in econometrics and an undergraduate
course in business management economics. Dr. Marsh’s
major areas of study are marketing and international trade,
quantitative methods, and natural resource economics.
L. Joe Moffitt
is a Professor in the Department of Resource Economics
at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research
focuses on the economics of crop protection with particular
emphasis on invasive species and biosecurity. He received
his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from
the University of California, Berkeley.
Aklesso Egbendewe-Mondzozo
is a Ph.D. student at Texas A&M University, Department
of Agricultural Economics. He received his Master's in
Economics from Texas A&M in 2007. His research interests
are agricultural policy modeling, quantitative methods,
industrial organization, and econometrics. He is expected
to graduate this fall.
Andrew Muhammad
is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural
Economics at Mississippi State University. He received
a B.S. in Agribusiness from Southern University in 1993,
an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University
of Missouri in 1996, and his Ph.D. in Food and Resource
Economics from the University of Florida in 2000. His
research areas are demand analysis, international trade
and policy, and agricultural marketing.
Alison Neeley joined
the USDA in November 2001 and is presently a risk analyst
with the Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Laboratory
(PERAL) in Raleigh, NC. As a risk analyst, she prepares
various qualitative and quantitative risk assessments
dealing with the risks associated with exotic plant pests.
She also serves as the Executive Secretary of the New
Pest Advisory Group (NPAG), a group which is tasked with
rapidly assessing the threat of plant pests newly detected
in the United States. Alison has a Master of Science degree
in Entomology from the University of Florida and a Master
of Economics degree from North Carolina State University.
Rebecca Epanchin-Niell
recently received her Ph.D. from the Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics at the University of California,
Davis. She has a B.S. in Earth Systems from Stanford and
M.S. degrees in Applied Economics and in Biology from
the University of Nevada, Reno. Her research interests
include bioeconomic modeling, modeling invasive species,
biodiversity conservation, environmental policy analysis,
and land use policy issues.
Craig Osteen is
co-leader of the Economic Research Service’s Program
of Research on the Economics of Invasive Species Management
extramural competitive awards program. He has worked at
ERS for over 25 years, and is currently assigned to the
Resource and Rural Economics Division. An important focus
in his work has been the economics and policy of invasive
species management, as well as pesticide use and pest
management.
Tim Richards
has a B. Commerce (economics major) from the University
of British Columbia, and an A.M. and Ph.D. from Stanford
University. He has been at Arizona State University since
1994 and is currently the Morrison Professor of Agribusiness
in the W.P. Carey School of Business. His research interests
include invasive species management, risk management,
empirical industrial organization, strategic behavior,
consumer demand, and health and nutrition.
Dr. Jürgen Richt
is the Regents Distinguished Professor at Kansas State
University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He
is an internationally recognized veterinary microbiologist
with research focus on zoonotic and emerging animal diseases.
Dr. Richt received his Ph.D.at Justus-Liebig-University,
Giessen, Germany and his D.V.M. at Ludwig-Maximilians
University, Munich, Germany. He is an editor of Virus
Genes, member of the editorial boards of various
microbiological journals, and has authored or co-authored
approximately 100 peer-reviewed articles.
Kimberly Rollins
is an Associate Professor at the Department of Resource
Economics at the University of Nevada, Reno. In addition
to the PREISM project, her current research includes estimating
the costs of invasive weeds on Great Basin rangelands
and the expected benefits of management strategies intended
to control invasive weeds on rangelands. Dr. Rollins teaches
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, and is the
Director of Graduate Studies for the Department. Prior
to serving on the faculty at the University of Nevada,
Dr. Rollins was an Associate Professor at the University
of Guelph, in Ontario Canada. She received her Doctorate
in Applied and Agricultural Economics from the University
of Wisconsin, Madison.
Ann Hillberg Seitzinger
is an agricultural economist with the Centers for Epidemiology
and Animal Health (CEAH) with USDA/APHIS's Veterinary
Services in Fort Collins, Colorado. Ann received a Ph.D.
in agricultural economics with specialties in international
agricultural trade and policy from Purdue University.
In addition to spending time in Germany studying U.S.-EU
agricultural trade issues, she worked for the Council
of Economic Advisers and USDA's Economic Research Service
before joining CEAH in 1993.
Dr. Parveen Setia
is currently the Chief of Policy Analysis and Development
Staff (PAD) at APHIS and oversees economic analyses (regulatory
impact and regulatory flexibility analyses) required for
rulemaking. In 1986, Parveen started his public service
career as an Economist with USDA’s Economic Research
Service. In 1997, he moved to the Office of the Secretary
to serve as economic advisor to the director of USDA’s
Office of Civil Rights on settling Pigford class action
lawsuit claims. During 2000-2007, Parveen served as a
Senior Program Analyst in USDA’s Office of Budget
and Program Analysis to oversee the program activities
for the Commodity Credit Corporation. Parveen received
his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and M.Sc from the University
of Guelph, Ontario, Canada..
Kay Walker Simmons
is National Program Leader, Plant Genetics and Grain Crops,
for the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Office of
National Programs. This position involves leadership and
coordination of the USDA-ARS national programs in crop
genetic resources, genomics, and biotechnology research.
The research program is conducted at more than 50 locations
nationally. Dr. Simmons is ARS representative for the
USDA Biotechnology Coordinating Group and Departmental
Officer for the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative.
She has led USDA-ARS efforts to combat the Ug99 stem rust
threat since 2005, including developing cooperative agreements
with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
(CIMMYT) in Mexico and the Kenyan Agricultural Research
Institute to screen U.S. wheat and barley for Ug99 resistance
in Eastern Africa, to support the Global Rust Initiative,
and to develop a USDA Action Plan to “Minimize the
Impact of Ug99 Stem Rust in the U.S”. Dr. Simmons
is the U.S. representative on the Executive Committee
for the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative.
Ravi P. Singh is
a Distinguished Scientist at the International Maize and
Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico, where he
is Head of the Irrigated Spring Bread Wheat Improvement
& Rust Research. He has developed, or contributed
to the development of, wheat germplasm that has resulted
in the release of over 180 varieties in various developing
countries. Singh played an active role in the formation
of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative and is leading the
development of spring wheat varieties resistant to Ug99
stem rust.
T. Davis Sydnor
has a B.S. in Landscape Horticulture and a Ph.D. in Plant
Physiology. Since 1972, he has taught and conducted research
at The Ohio State University in the Department of Horticulture
and The School of Environment and Natural Resources. His
interests have been in the establishment and maintenance
of woody plants, primarily trees, in human-dominated situations.
Sarahelen (Sally) Thompson
is Director of the Market and Trade Economics Division,
ERS. In addition to research administration experience,
Sally brings to ERS special skills, knowledge, and research
experience in agricultural and food marketing, the economic
performance of futures markets, the effect of information
technologies on agricultural and food markets, and agricultural
economic history. She was most recently Professor and
Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue
University. Prior to that, she was Professor of Agricultural
and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois,
and Interim Assistant Director of the Illinois Agricultural
Experiment Station. Sally received B.A. and M.S. degrees
from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. from the
Food Research Institute, Stanford University, in 1984.
Trang T. Vo is a Special
Assistant to the Deputy Administrator (DA) for Policy
and Program Development in APHIS. She is responsible for
providing analytical support to the DA on key agency issues
that include evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness
of APHIS programs and economic rationale for new policy
implementation. Trang has worked on numerous plant health
and quarantine issues, with the primary focus on integrating
risk and economics. Trang received her B.A. in Economics
from the University of Maryland (UMD) in 1978, and a Masters
in Agricultural and Resources Economics from UMD in 1982.
James E. Wilen is
Director of the Center for Natural Resource Policy Analysis,
and a Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics
at the University of California, Davis. Recent research
addresses spatial models of resource use, institutional
solutions to problems of the commons, and economics of
spatial-dynamic processes. He has received numerous research
and teaching awards, and was elected Distinguished Fellow
of the AAEA in 2001 and a Fellow of the Beijer Institute
of Ecological Economics in 2007.
Christopher Wolf
is a Professor of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics
at Michigan State University. His work focuses on farm
management, risk management, and livestock disease management
and policy. Chris earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics
from the University of California-Davis.
Christine Zakarka is the Deputy Administrator of Policy and Program Development (PPD) for USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). She provides leadership for the overall planning and direction of policies, programs and activities and is responsible for budget, regulation development, and environmental compliance programs at APHIS. Previously, Ms. Zakarka served as Chief of PPD’s Planning, Evaluation, and Monitoring staff and held numerous other positions in APHIS. She obtained her Bachelors in Urban Planning from Fordham University and her Masters from the University of Maryland University College.
Frank Zalom has
been Professor and Extension Entomologist at the University
of California, Davis for 30 years. He served as Director
of the UC Statewide IPM Program for 16 years, and continues
to serve as Chair of the APLU Pest Management Strategies
Subcommittee and as Grants Manager for the USDA’s
Western Region IPM Competitive Grants Programs. He is
a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and the
Entomological Society of America, and has received a number
of awards including the Entomology Society of America’s
Recognition Award and its Outstanding Achievement in Extension
Award, a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, and the
James H. Meyer Award from UC Davis for recognition in
teaching, research, and public service. Dr. Zalom’s
research and extension activities focus on developing
alternatives to conventional pesticides for insect and
mite pests of fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. He has
authored 280 journal articles and book chapters, including
editing the book Food, Crop Pests and the Environment.
Marisa Zansler is
an economist with the Policy Analysis and Development
staff of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service (APHIS), where she evaluates the economic impact
of regulatory initiatives on small businesses, organizations,
and governmental jurisdictions. She also conducts benefit-cost
analyses of the total impacts associated with invasive
species management policies. Prior to joining APHIS in
2004, she earned her Ph.D. in Food and Resource Economics
from the University of Florida.
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