Presenter Biographies
David Abler, Penn State
University
Dave Abler is a professor of Agricultural, Environmental and
Regional Economics & Demography at Penn State University, and a
principal and co-owner of By The Numbers, a consultancy. He
obtained a B.A. degree in economics and mathematics from Macalester
College in 1982 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of
Chicago in 1987. His research focuses on international economic
development, global food and agricultural markets, environmental
policies for agriculture, and climate change adaptation and
mitigation.
Alejandro Acosta, Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Alejandro Acosta is a FAO Livestock Development Officer for
Central America. At FAO he has conducted research on price
transmission and market transparency of food markets in Africa and
Latin America. Currently he is coordinating two regional initiate
one on "Policy guidelines for the sustainable development of the
livestock sector in Central America" and other about the
"Socio-economic cost of trade restrictive animal diseases in
Central America". He is a PhD candidate on Agricultural
Economics from the University of Gottingen in Germany, holds a M.Sc
on Agricultural Economics, a M.Sc on Tropical Agriculture and
a B.Sc on Livestock Production.
Robert Beach, RTI
International
Robert Beach is a senior economist in the Environmental,
Technology, and Energy Economics Program at RTI International. He
specializes in the development and application of economic models
to analyze agricultural, environmental, energy, and natural
resource regulations, programs, and policies. Research applications
include studies evaluating the economic impacts of climate change
on agriculture, economic and environmental impacts of bioenergy
production, global agricultural GHG mitigation analyses, low carbon
development strategies, risk management and crop insurance, and
factors influencing forest management. Dr. Beach is also an adjunct
assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource
Economics at North Carolina State University.
Jean-Claude
Bizimana, Texas AgriLife Research
Jean-Claude Bizimana is a post-doctoral research assistant at
the Blackland Research and Extension Center in Temple, Texas. He
recently graduated from the Agricultural Economics Department at
Texas A&M University. His main research is on market
information economics with a focus on how market information
systems help create market transparency and competition in
developing countries. His dissertation research studied the cattle
market integration in Mali, Kenya and Tanzania. Jean-Claude also
has a long experience working in international agricultural and
rural development both in his home country of Rwanda and in Mali as
a research assistant during his PhD program.
Don P. Blayney,
USDA-Economic Research Service
Don Blayney is an economist in the Markets and Trade Division of
USDA's Economic Research Service. Don has focused on domestic
U.S. dairy industry issues, including international trade,
production, markets, and public policy.
Danhong Chen, Penn State
University
Danhong Chen is a third-year Ph.D. student in Agricultural,
Environmental & Regional Economics and Demography at the
Pennsylvania State University. She has a bachelor's and master's
degree in International Economics and Trade. Her research interests
include agribusiness management, international trade in
agricultural products, environmental impacts of economic growth,
inequality, internal and international migration etc. Recently, she
has been doing research on contractual choices between
agribusinesses and farmers, and innovation in Chinese
agribusinesses.
Christopher G. Davis,
USDA-Economic Research Service
Christopher G. Davis is a graduate of Louisiana State University
and has been employed at ERS since 2002. He works with the Animal
Products and Cost of Production Branch, in the Market and Trade
Economics Division. He conducts research on food consumption, meat
and poultry trade, industry organization, and serves as a market
analyst for poultry trade.
John N. Giamalva,
U.S. International Trade Commission
John Giamalva is an international trade analyst in the Office of
Industries, Agriculture and Fisheries Division at the U.S.
International Trade Commission (ITC). Prior to working in the
Office of Industries, he worked in the Applied Economics Division
at the ITC. John received an MA in economics in 1994 from the
University of Arkansas, where he also worked as a research
associate conducting research on consumer willingness to pay for
aspects of food safety.
William F. Hahn,
USDA-Economic Research Service
William Hahn is an economist in the Market and Trade Division of
the USDA Economic Research Service. He has over 25 years of
professional experience as an economic analyst.
Keithly Jones,
USDA-Economic Research Service
Keithly Jones is an economist in the Markets and Trade Division
of USDA's Economic Research Service. Keithly focuses on meat,
livestock, dairy, and poultry trade and demand issues.
David Karemera,
Dept. of Economics, South Carolina State University
Dr. David Karemera is a Professor of Economics at South Carolina
State University. He received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics
with a minor in Mathematical Statistics from the University of
Nebraska- Lincoln in 1989. David has experience in international
agricultural trade. His research interests include Gravity
Model Analysis of International Trade Flows, the Impacts of Free
Trade Agreements, Policy Analysis, and Stochastic Behavior of
Exchange Rates. His research articles are published in
numerous journals including Contemporary Economic Policy,
International Journal of Finance, Applied Economics, Review of
Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Pacific Basin Finance Journal,
Journal of Management Policy and Practice; The Journal of
Forecasting, and others
Kar Ho Lim, University of
Kentucky
Kar Ho Lim is a post-doc research associate at the University of
Kentucky. His research interest includes country-of-origin
labeling, food safety, and other value-added attributes on meat
product.
Paul Lirette,
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Paul Lirette joined Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in
2009 as an economic market analyst. His primary area of expertise
began with national and international grain and oilseed markets and
was recently reassigned to red meat markets. Paul received his M.A.
in Economics from the University of Guelph in 2009 and a B.A. in
Economics from Mount Allison University in 2008.
William A. McFall,
University of Georgia
William McFall is a second year graduate student at the
University of Georgia pursuing a M.S. degree in Agricultural and
Applied Economics and a M.S. Certificate in Geographic Information
Sciences. He spent the previous summer as an intern at ERS in
the Food Economics Division researching food insecurity in
households with children. He has previous work experience at
food banks in Georgia and Illinois. He has research interests
in international agricultural development, food security, and
trade. He will begin service in the United States Peace Corps
in May 2013 in South or Central America.
Cephas Naanwaab,
North Carolina A&T
Cephas B. Naanwaab, PhD, is a postdoctoral research associate at
the L.C.Cooper Jr. International Trade Center, North Carolina
A&T State University. He works with other scientists at the
Center to develop an outreach program that focuses on recruiting
and providing technical assistance to limited-resource farmers,
medium-scale businesses, and cooperatives in North Carolina.
His research interests include: the effects of trade agreements and
product standards on international trade, environmental
justice, and the economics of bio-energy resources. Dr.
Naanwaab earned his Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Economics
from his native country (Ghana), Master's degree in Economics and
PhD in Applied Economics from Auburn University, Alabama.
Derrell S. Peel, Oklahoma
State University
Derrell Peel is the Charles Breedlove Professor of Agribusiness
in the Department of Agricultural Economics. He has served as
the Extension Livestock Marketing Specialist since he came to
Oklahoma State University in 1989. He has B.S. and M.S.
degrees from Montana State University and a Ph.D. from the
University of Illinois. He previously served as the Superintendent
of the Southeastern Colorado Range Research Station in Springfield
Colorado. His main program areas at Oklahoma State
University include livestock market outlook and marketing/risk
management education for livestock producers. Derrell also
works in the area of international livestock and meat trade with
particular focus on Mexico and Canada and the North American
livestock and meat industry. He lived in Mexico on sabbatical
in 2001 and has developed an extensive knowledge of the Mexican
cattle and beef industry and the economics of cattle and beef trade
between the U.S. and Mexico.
Miguel Robles,
International Food Policy Research Institute
Miguel Robles is a Research Fellow at the International Food
Policy Research Institute, IFPRI in the Markets, Trade and
Institutions Division. At IFPRI he has conducted research on the
behavior of international agricultural commodity markets, price
transmission estimations from international markets to domestic
food markets in Latin America and Asia, analysis of futures markets
and the role of speculation, analysis on the welfare impact of
changing food prices in Latin America and Asia, and a new approach
to provide weather index-based insurance, among other topics. He
holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California Los
Angeles UCLA.
Fawzi Taha, USDA-Economic
Research Service
Fawzi Taha is an economist in the Market and Trade Division of
the USDA Economic Research Service. He has over 25 years of
professional experience as an economic analyst.
Constanza Valdes,
USDA-Economic Research Service
Constanza Valdes is an economist with the International Demand
and Trade Branch within the Market and Trade Economics Division,
Economic Research Service, USDA. A Brazil specialist, she has
extensive experience conducting analysis and research on economic,
agricultural and trade policy issues related to Brazil. José
Garcia Gasques is an economist with the Institute for Applied
Economic Research (IPEA) and Director of Research at the Brazilian
Ministry of Agriculture. He has published numerous research reports
related to productivity issues for Brazilian agriculture.
Thomas I. Wahl, North
Dakota State University
Dr. Thomas I. Wahl is the Assistant Director for Global
Agricultural Initiatives and Economic Development in the North
Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and a Professor in the
Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota
State University. His research focuses on trade policy,
consumers' attitudes and preferences, international marketing and
trade as well as food demand. Dr. Wahl has traveled
extensively in the Pacific Rim and Asia, particularly in China, to
better understand potential markets and develop collaboration
opportunities. He received his undergraduate and Ph.D.
degrees in agribusiness and agricultural economics from Iowa State
University.
Norbert Wilson, Auburn
University
Norbert Wilson is an associate professor of agricultural
economics at Auburn University. He is also a member of Auburn
University Food Systems Initiative (AUFSI) and the International
Agricultural Trade and Research Consortium (IATRC). Norbert
is the chair of the multi-state project S-1043 Economic Impacts of
International Trade and Domestic Policies on Southern
Agriculture.