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SIXTY-TWO REASONS

to do your graduate study in the University of Maryland's

Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Here's what to tell your family, friends, and academic advisor about why you're choosing the University of Maryland.

Fall 2008 Edition

We recommend that prospective graduate students look at departments based on the research prominence and expertise of the faculty. Here is how to judge the University of Maryland.

MAJOR CATEGORIES OF REASONS

Rank of the Department

Award Winning Faculty

Policy Experience of Faculty

Professional Leadership of Faculty

Editorial Experience of the Faculty

Employment Placement of Recent Graduates

Quality of the Educational Experience

Proximity to Major Government Agencies & Related Organizations

The Expertise of Faculty

RANK OF THE DEPARTMENT

The Department is consistently rated among the very best agricultural and resource economics departments anywhere.

1. The Department is ranked first internationally in Resource & Agricultural Economics on the basis of quality-adjusted citations

The website http://www.econphd.net/ ranks all academic departments in the world by subject matter area. The University of Maryland is ranked first in the topical area that matches its name.

2. The Department is ranked first internationally in Resource & Environmental Economics on the basis of quality-adjusted citations

The website http://www.econphd.net/ ranks all academic departments by sub-discipline. The Department has probably the largest collection of environmental and resource economists and accordingly ranks first in the major sub-discipline of the Department, Resource & Environmental Economics.

3. The Department is ranked third internationally in Agricultural Economics on the basis of quality-adjusted citations.

According to the website http://www.econphd.net/ the Department also ranks third in its other major sub-discipline, Agricultural Economics behind only Iowa State University and the University of California, Davis.

4. Professional opinion ranks the Department as the best in Resource and Environmental Economics

A survey of opinions of members of the American Agricultural Economic Association used as reviewers for its major journal by Gregory Perry rank the Department as the best in Resource & Environmental Economics.
See http://arec.oregonstate.edu/Ranking2004.pdf.

5. Professional opinion ranks the Department as third in Agricultural Economics

The same survey of professional opinion ranks the Department third in Agricultural Economics behind only the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Davis.

6. The Department ranked first among contributors to the American Journal of Agricultural Economics

A publication by Willis, Willis, and Shea (Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 1993) found the department contributed more publications to the leading journal of agricultural economics than any other department.

7. The Department ranked first among contributors to the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management

A publication by Shogren and Durden (Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 1991) found that the University of Maryland contributed more publications to the leading journal of environmental economics than any other department.

AWARD WINNING FACULTY

The Department's faculty include the most award-winning faculty of all agricultural & resource economics departments.

8. John Bates Clark Medal

Marc Nerlove, 1969

9. Alexander von Humboldt Award

Ramon Lopez, 2001

10. Elmhirst Medal of the International Agricultural Economics Association

Bruce Gardner, 2003

11. American Agricultural Economics Association Publication of Enduring Quality Award

Bob Chambers 1999

Darrell Hueth 1994

Richard Just 1992, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2005; Honorable mention 2002

Marc Nerlove 1979

12. American Agricultural Economics Association Quality of Research Discovery Award

Bob Chambers 1985, 1990; Honorable mention 1997, 2001

Bruce Gardner 1980

Richard Just 1978, 1990, 1997; Honorable mention 1981, 1984, 1991, 2003

Marc Nerlove 1958, 1961 [before award name change]

13. Outstanding Journal Article in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics

Bruce Gardner 1976

Darrell Hueth Honorable mention 1994

Richard Just 1982; Honorable mention 1994

Marc Nerlove 1956

14. American Agricultural Economics Association Policy Award

Bruce Gardner 1994

15. American Agricultural Economics Association Quality of Communication Award

Richard Just 2007 

Bruce Gardner 1996, 2002

Ted McConnell Honorable mention 2002

16. American Agricultural Economics Association Distinguished Extension Program

James Hanson 1994

17. Fellows of the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA)

Nancy Bockstael, 2000

Bob Chambers, 1999

Bruce Gardner, 1989

Richard Just, 1989

Ted McConnell, 2001

Marc Nerlove, 1993

18. Fellows of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE)

19. Fellow of the American Statistical Association

Marc Nerlove, 1964

20. Fellow of the Econometric Society

Marc Nerlove, 1960

21. Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Marc Nerlove, 1971

22. Member, National Academy of Sciences

Marc Nerlove, 1979

23. Waugh Memorial Lecture (AAEA)

Nancy Bockstael, 1996

Marc Nerlove, 1991

POLICY EXPERIENCE OF FACULTY

Faculty of the Department have held some of the most prominent positions in government responsible for agricultural and environmental policy.

24. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Economics

Bruce Gardner 1989-1991

25. Senior Staff Economist, President's Council of Economic Advisors

Bruce Gardner 1975-1977

Bob Chambers 1985-1986

Howard Leathers 1992-1993

Erik Lichtenberg 1993-1994

John List (Adjunct) 2002-2003

26. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Science Advisory Board

Anna Alberini 2003-present

Nancy Bockstael 1992-2000

Maureen Cropper (Affiliate)

John List (Adjunct) 2001

27. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Environmental Economics Working Group

Nancy Bockstael, charter member, 2002-present

Maureen Cropper (Affiliate)

John List (Adjunct), faculty research fellow, 2003-present

28. Service in other U.S. government agencies

John Horowitz: Office of Economic Policy, Department of the Treasury, 2001-2002

Lori Lynch: Economic Research Service, USDA, 1989-1991

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP OF FACULTY

The faculty of the Department are the leaders of learned societies in the Department's primary fields.

29. Officers of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists

President

Nancy Bockstael; 1999-2000

Maureen Cropper (Affiliate): 1995-1996

Ted McConnell: 1991-1992

Vice President

John Horowitz: 2004-2006

Board of Directors

Anna Alberini: 2000-2002

Nancy Bockstael: 1985-1987

Darrell Hueth: 1981-1984

30. Officers of the American Agricultural Economics Association

President-elect, President, Past President

Bruce Gardner 1999-2002
Richard Just 2007-2010

Board of Directors

Bruce Gardner 1984-1987

31. Officer of Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

President-elect, President, Past President

Lori Lynch, 2007-2009 

32. President of the Econometric Society

Marc Nerlove 1981

EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE OF THE FACULTY

The faculty of the Department have served as editors and on editorial boards of the major scholarly journals of the Department's primary fields.

33. Board of Editors of the American Economic Review

John List (Adjunct) 2004-present

Marc Nerlove 1970-1972

34. Editing of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (AJAE)

Editor

Erik Lichtenberg, 2007-2011

Richard Just, 1984-1986

Associate Editor

Bob Chambers 1984-1986

Bruce Gardner 1984-1989

Erik Lichtenberg 1998-2002

Editorial Council

Bruce Gardner 1980-1983

Richard Just 1978-1980

35. Editing of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (JEEM)

Co-editor

Anna Alberini 2001-2004

John List (Adjunct) 2004-present

Ted McConnell 1985-1987

Associate Editor

Anna Alberini 2000

Nancy Bockstael 1987-1988

Ramon Lopez 1998-1999 

Lars Olson 1996-1999

Editorial Board

Anna Alberini 1998-2001

Nancy Bockstael 1991-1993, 1995-2000

John Horowitz 1992-1993, 1997-2001, 2003-present

John List (Adjunct) 2001-2003

Ted McConnell 1992-1996

Lars Olson 1994-1995, 2001-2004

36. Editorial Board Members of the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review (ARER)

Ken Leonard 2005-2008

Doug Lipton 2005-2008

37. Editorial roles with other professional journals

Nancy Bockstael Journal of Marine Resource Economics Editorial Board 1984-90; Environment and Development Economics Editorial Board 1994-present; Land Economics Editorial Board 1997-present

John Horowitz Agricultural and Resource Economics Review Editorial Board 1997-1999

Darrell Hueth Western Journal of Agricultural Economics Co-editor 1982-1984

Howard Leathers Agricultural and Resource Economics Review Editorial Board 1999-2005

Erik Lichtenberg Agricultural and Resource Economics Review Editorial Board 1994-1995

Doug Lipton International Journal of Recirculating Aquaculture Editorial Board 1999-2003

John List (Adjunct) Experimental Economics Editorial Board 2004-present; Berkeley Electronic Journals in Economic Analysis and Policy Editorial Board 2004-present; Journal of Regional Science Associate Editor 2001-present; Environmental and Resource Economics Co-editor 2001-2004, Editorial Board 2001-present; Editorial Board 2004-present; American Economic Review Editorial Board 2004-present; Journal of Economic Literature Board of Editors 2006-present; Journal of Environmental Economics and Management Co-editor 2004-present, Editorial Council 2001-present; Letters in Spatial and Resource Economics Editorial Board 2006-present 

Richard Just Western Journal of Agricultural Economics Editorial Council 1982-1984; Journal of Development Planning Literature Editorial Board 1985-1991

Ramon Lopez Environmental and Development Economics Associate Editor 1995-2003 Journal of Policy Reform Editorial Board 1994-present

Lori Lynch Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 2003-present

Ted McConnell Journal of Marine Resource Economics Editorial Council 1981-present; Land Economics Editorial Council 1985-1997; Journal of Environmental Economics and Management Editorial Council 1992-1996

Marc Nerlove Journal of the American Statistical Association Associate Editor 1960-1962; Journal of Economic Literature Editorial Board 1969-1971

EMPLOYMENT PLACEMENT OF RECENT GRADUATES

Students receiving recent graduate degrees from the Department have found employment in choice academic positions and the best international organizations.

38. Placement of graduate students in U.S. academic positions

Antonio Bento, University of California, Santa Barbara (now University of Maryland)

Timothy Haab, East Carolina University (now Ohio State University)

Brent Hueth, Iowa State University

Elena Irwin, Ohio State University

Edward Jaenicke, University of Tennessee (now Pennsylvania State University)

Catherine Kling, University of California, Davis (now Iowa State University)

Craig Landry, East Carolina University

Douglas Larson, University of California, Davis

Valerie Mueller, Columbia University

Claudia Ocana, Southwest Texas University

Michael Price, University of Nevada-Reno

Brian Roe, Ohio State University

Camilo Sarmiento, North Dakota State University (now Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation)

Glenn Sheriff, Columbia University

Rodney Smith, University of Minnesota

Julie Stanton, Arizona State University (now Saint Joseph's Unversity)

Mario Teisl, University of Maine

Quinn Wininger, Utah State University (now at Iowa State University)

39. Placement of graduate students in international academic positions

Yann Bramoulle, Laval University, Quebec, Canada

Habiba Djebbari, Laval University, Quebec, Canada

Sumeet Gulati, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Anna Marie Ibanez, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Columbia/World Bank

Stephanie Kirchhoff, University of Bonn, Germany

Oh Sang Kwon, Seoul National University, Korea

Siddhartha Mitra, Institute of Management and Technology, India (now Gokale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune, India

Sinaia Netanyahu, Ben Gurion University, Israel (now at Tahal, Israel)

Eiichiro Nishizawa, Hosei University, Tokyo

Marcia Rosado, Nova University, Lisbon, Portugal

Yau-Yuh Tsay, Ming Hsin University of Science & Technology, Taiwan

Wei-Chun Tseng, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan

Sabastian Valdes, University of Chile (now C & S Marketing)

40. Placement of graduate students in U.S. government agencies in Washington

Kathleen Bell, Environmental Protection Agency (subsequently University of Washington, University of Maine)

Amy Buss, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Conrad Choiniere, Food and Drug Administration (FDA/USDA)

Barbara Claffey, Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS/USDA)

Rita Curtis, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA)

Carolyn Dimitri, Economic Research Service (ERS/USDA)

Mark Flemming, Fannie Mae (now in the private sector)

Robert Hicks, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS/NOAA) (now College of William and Mary)

Lynh Thi Nguyen, Internal Revenue Service (IRS/US Treasury)

Cynthia Nickerson, Economic Research Service (ERS/USDA)

41. Placement of graduate students in major international organizations

Vinod Ahuja, Indian Institute of Management/World Bank

Lars Anwandter, European Investment Bank, Germany

John Curtis, Institute for Economic & Social Research, Dublin, Ireland (now Environtmental Protection Agency, Ireland)

Fabrizio Bresciani, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome, Italy

Madhur Gautam, World Bank

Daniel Gilligan, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington DC

Jeongbin Im, Korea Rural Economic Institute, Seoul, Korea

Tsunehiro Otsuki, Osaka University

Hojeong Park, Korea Energy Economics Institute, Seoul, Korea (now Chonnam National Univeristy, Korea)

Ricardo Smith-Ramirez, Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (CIDE), Mexico City, Mexico.

 

Claudia Romano, World Bank

Isidro Soloago, World Bank

Jin Kyo Suh, Korea Rural Economic Institute, Seoul, Korea

Timothy Thomas, World Bank

42. Placement of graduate students in consulting positions

Christopher Leggett, Industrial Economics, Inc., Cambridge MA

Tulika Narayan, Abt Associates, Washington DC

Ellen Post, Abt Associates, Washington DC

QUALITY OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE

The Department strives to offer the highest quality educational experience in agricultural & resource economics.

43. A major emphasis is on engaging students in publishable research starting in their first year.

The Department offers annual awards for graduate student performance:

a. The Rhona Lantin Award for the best paper written by a first-year graduate student.

b. The Bessie H. Duvault Award for the best paper written by a second-year graduate student.

c. The Billy V. and Mary Lessley Award for the best dissertation.

These awards are accompanied by a substantial cash reward. They encourage students to think about writing publishable research papers, the bread-and-butter of future careers, starting on the very first day of graduate school.

44. American Agricultural Economics Association Outstanding PhD Dissertation Awards won by students

Ricardo Smith-Ramirez 2006

Dan Gilligan Honorable mention 2005

Timothy Haab 1996

Madhur Gautam Honorable mention 1994

Rodney Smith 1993

Douglas Larson 1989

To get the real inside scoop on this topic, we invite prospective students to visit the campus and talk with faculty and graduate students.

PROXIMITY OF MAJOR GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND RELATED ORGANIZATIONS

The Department offers close proximity to an incomparable array of government agencies, international institutions, and non-governmental organizations devoted to environmental issues, agricultural policy, natural resource management, and international development. Opportunities for attending stimulating seminars abound. Many students find useful work experience, access to data, and cutting-edge thesis topics as well as future employment through these organizations.

45. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is located only 9.7 miles away.

46. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is located only 10.6 miles away.

47. The U.S. Economic Research Service (ERS) is located only 9.4 miles away.

48. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is located only 1.5 miles away.

49. Resources for the Future (RFF) is located only 9.0 miles away.

50. The Joint Institute for Food Science and Nutrition (JIFSAN) is located on the University of Maryland campus.

51. The Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI) is located adjacent to the University of Maryland campus.

52. The National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education is located on the University of Maryland campus.

53. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is located only 9.9 miles away.

54. The World Bank is located only 10.0 miles away.

55. The Inter-American Development Bank is located only 9.8 miles away.

56. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is located only 9.8 miles away.

57. The Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) with its National Agricultural Library is located only 3.1 miles away.

58. The U.S. Capitol, Senate, and House of Representatives, which enacts all federal law, is enacted is located only 9.5 miles away.

THE EXPERTISE OF FACULTY

The Department faculty's expertise provides an extremely broad and deep coverage of agricultural, environmental, and natural resource economics. A list of major topical areas of departmental expertise (a partial list in no particular order) follows. In addition, students can count on instruction grounded in frontier-level economic theory and econometrics, the two pillars of economics.

59. Major areas of faculty expertise include:

60. Recent books by faculty of the Department. Titles published just since 2000

Alberini, Anna, and James R. Kahn (eds) (2006), Handbook on Contingent Valuation, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing (February 2006)

Bockstael, NE & KE McConnell - Revealed Preferences and Welfare Economics: A Theoretical Guide to the Empirical Literature, Kluwer Publishing, forthcoming.

Chambers, RG & J Quiggin - Uncertainty, Production Choice and Agency: The State-Contingent Approach, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Gardner, BL - American Agriculture in the 20th Century: How It Flourished and What It Cost, Harvard University Press, 2002.

Gardner, BL and G. Rausser, Eds- Handbook of Agricultural Economics, North-Holland, volume I, 2001, volume II, 2002.

Haab, TC and KE McConnell - Valuing Environmental and Natural Resources: Econometrics for Non-Market Valuation, Edward Elgar Publishers, hardback 2002, paperback 2003.

Just, RJ and RD Pope, Eds - A Comprehensive Assessment of the Role of Risk in US Agriculture, Kluwer Publishing, 2002.

Just, RJ, DL Hueth and A Schmitz - The Welfare Economics of Public Policy: A Practical Approach to Project and Policy Evaluation, Edwin Elgar Press, hardback 2004, paperback 2005.

Just, RJ, JM Alston and D Zilberman, Eds - Economics of Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnologies, Springer Publishers, forthcoming.

Leathers, HD and P Foster - The World Food Problem, 3rd Edition, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004.

List, JA and A de Zeeuw, Eds - Recent Advances in Environmental Economics, Edward Elgar Publishers, 2002.

Lopez, R and JC Jordan - Sustainable Development in Latin America: Financing and Policies Working in Synergy, Organization of American States Press, 2000.

Lopez, R and A Valdes - Rural Poverty in Latin America, MacMillan Press, 2001.

Dhareshwar, A, Y Wang, R Lopez, and N Kishor- The Quality of Growth, Oxford University Press, 2000.

Lopez, R, J Stiglitz and M Toman, Eds - Sustainable Development: New Options and Policies, Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

Nerlove, ML - Essays on Panel Data Econometrics, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Scarpa, Riccardo, and Anna Alberini (eds) (2005), Applications of Simulation Methods in Environmental and Resource Economics, Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

61. International Visibility

Countries that the faculty of the Department have visited recently in a professional capacity include the following:

International awards received by faculty of the Department include:

Bruce Gardner, Elmhirst Medal, 2003

James Hanson, Fulbright Fellowship, 1983

Erik Lichtenberg, Fulbright Fellowship, 1998

Erik Lichtenberg, University of Helsinki Bronze Medal, 2002

Ramon Lopez, von Humboldt Research Award, 2002

Marc Nerlove, Fulbright Fellowship, 1962-1963, 1987

Marc Nerlove, Docteur Honors Causa de l'Universite de Geneve, 2000

Marc Nerlove, Honorary Fellow, Argentine Association of Political Economy, 2000

Marc Nerlove, Dr. Rerung Politik from University of Mannheim, 1982

62. The University of Maryland has a long tradition of environmental scholarship in related disciplines

The University of Maryland has a long tradition of environmental scholarship throughout the University and on all sides of the issues. Past and present faculty across campus have included:

Thomas Schelling (Nobel laureate and author of The Strategy of Conflict and Arms and Influence, Department of Economics, School of Public Policy)

Rachel Carson (author of Silent Spring, her early career was in the Department of Zoology)

Robert Costanza (founder of Ecological Economics, formerly Director of the UM Institute for Ecological Economics,)

Herman Daly (author of Toward a Steady-State Economy and co-author of For the Common Good, School of Public Policy)

Wallace Oates (author of Theory of Environmental Policy with W. Baumol, Department of Economics)

John Quiggin (current contributor to CrookedTimber.org, former visiting and adjunct faculty of the Department)

Mark Sagoff (author of The Economy of the Earth and Do We Consume Too Much?, School of Public Policy)

Julian Simon (author of The Ultimate Resource and Population Matters, College of Business and Management)

What other University can boast of a history that includes the likes of Rachel Carson and Julian Simon and Herman Daly and Thomas Schelling?

For further information about the faculty of the Department, potential students are invited to explore the websites of faculty found at http://www.arec.umd.edu/People/Faculty/

For more information, contact the webmaster.

Last updated: 06/12/2008

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