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Agricultural and Resource Economics
Outstanding Faculty
Faculty expertise and research interest cover a broad spectrum from theoretical investigations of preferences over uncertain events to extension publications on land use and water quality. A unique feature of the Department is the close collaboration between extension and research. This collaboration challenges researchers to provide meaningful analysis and provides extension faculty rigorous intellectual frameworks for the extension of research to public and private sectors. The caliber and productivity of the faculty is indicated by awards and positions held. Faculty include five Distinguished Fellows of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, three Fellows of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a recipient of the John Bates Clark award, a recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Award and three former presidents of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, two former presidents of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association, and a president of the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association. Faculty have served regularly in important policy positions, including five times on the Council of Economic Advisors, the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Economics, and various positions with the World Bank. Faculty have regularly served in editorial capacities for the most important journals in the field, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Environmental and Resource Economics, and many other journals. Research faculty have been innovators in the most important areas of agricultural and resource economics. New faculty have expanded the research interests of the Department to include behavioral and experimental economics and trade and the environment.
Stellar Students and Alumni
The graduate program focuses on the education of PhD students. Graduates of this program have placed in academic positions such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, University of California-Davis, Columbia, Ohio State, Maryland, Penn State, William and Mary, University of British Columbia, Iowa State, Maine, as well as national and international research organizations and universities around the world (see a list of graduate job placements).
Undergraduate agricultural and resource economics majors take classes in business management, environmental and resource policy, international agriculture, farm production, food production, government and politics, and economic theory and method. You may decide to design your own field in a foreign language, in the biological and environmental sciences, or in a particular area of agricultural production. The major offers you an opportunity to tailor your college program to your plans, abilities, and interests.
Dedication to Outreach
Nine faculty members have Maryland Extension appointments. Their research and community outreach efforts cover a broad range of topics, including agricultural policy; coastal and marine resources; commodity marketing; farm and financial management; international extension; linking agriculture, natural resources, and the environment; land use and farmland preservation; sustainable agriculture; and water quality. One faculty extension assistant works full time on issues related to coastal community development, coastal hazards, and climate change.
Come See Us!
To make arrangements to visit the department, please contact our administrative office:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
University of Maryland
Symons Hall, Rm. 2200
College Park, MD 20742
Ph. (301) 405-1293
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Last updated: 05/11/2012
Congratulation to AREC Distinguished University Professor Marc Nerlove for being elected Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association.