College of Agriculture & Natural Resources

AFRE People and Awards (Spring 2016)

Faculty and Staff News

New hires

Vincenzina Caputo joined the department as an assistant professor on Feb. 1, 2016. She moved from Korea University, where she was assistant professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics.

David DeYoung joined the Food Security Group this spring as a specialist-outreach.

Stephanie Lelo joined Telfarm this spring as a specialist-outreach.

Raul Pitoro joined the Food Security Group this spring as a research associate.

Ayala Wineman joined the Food Security Group in January as an assistant professor with a focus on international development.

Changed responsibilities and achievements

Richard Horan became AFRE associate chair and director of graduate studies on May 16, 2016. He replaced Scott Swinton, who had held that post since January 2011.

Mywish Maredia was named director of the Food Security Policy Innovation Lab (FSP) in January 2016, replacing Duncan Boughton.

Duncan Boughton moved to Myanmar in January, 2016, as project director for Myanmar activities under the USAID-funded Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy (FSP).  He stepped down as director of FSP Innovation Lab in January and subsequently as co-director of the Food Security Group in May 2016.

Nick Sitko relocated from Lusaka, Zambia, to work on campus in April 2016.

Scott Swinton was elected president-elect of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) in May 2016. His term begins August 1, 2016. Swinton follows in the footsteps of previous AAEA presidents who were members of MSU faculty, Sandra Batie (1989-90), Lester Manderscheid (1988-89), and Jim Bonnen (1975-76).

Saweda Liverpool-Tasie was elected chair-elect of the AAEA Africa Section in May 2016.

Melinda Smale was elected chair-elect of the AAEA International Section in May 2016.

Former AFRE faculty member Nango Dembele (MSU PhD 1994) was named minister of livestock and fisheries of Mali on January 5, 2016.  Previously, Dr. Dembele was the Food Security Commissioner of Mali.

The new Mali Food Security Policy Research Program, led by Professors Steven Haggblade, Melinda Smale, and Véronique Thériault, was approved on March 28. Under the aegis of the AFRE Food Security Policy Innovation Lab, the new USAID-funded program promotes inclusive agricultural productivity growth, improved nutritional outcomes and enhanced livelihood resilience through an improved policy environment.

Felicia Wu, who co-authored the World Health Organization (WHO) report on the global burden of disease caused by unsafe food, was covered in NPR Online: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/16/459971675/1-in-10-people-around-the-world-get-sick-from-food-every-year.  The WHO study is available at: http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/foodborne-diseases/ferg/en/.

Faculty and Staff Awards

Duncan Boughton and Eric Crawford received the 2016 Ralph H. Smuckler Award for Advancing International Studies and Programs from MSU International Studies and Programs on March 23.

Eric Crawford received the Graduate Program Coordinator’s Decennial Award for Outstanding Graduate Advising at the AFRE annual faculty meeting on May 13, 2016.

Saweda Liverpool-Tasie was named the 2016 John K. Hudzik Emerging Leader in Advancing International Studies and Programs from MSU International Studies and Programs on March 23.

Scott Loveridge received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Extension Outreach at the AFRE annual faculty meeting on May 13, 2016.

Frank Lupi received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Service and the Graduate Program Coordinator’s Decennial Award for Outstanding Graduate Advising at the AFRE annual faculty meeting on May 13, 2016.

Nicole Mason received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Research at the AFRE annual faculty meeting on May 13, 2016.

Bob Myers received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Graduate Program Coordinator’s Decennial Award for Outstanding Graduate Advising at the AFRE annual faculty meeting on May 13, 2016.

Anne Schneller received a Special Recognition Award for Promoting International Understanding from MSU International Studies and Programs on March 23, 2016.

Scott Swinton received the 2016 Award for Excellence in Service at the AFRE annual faculty meeting on May 13, 2016.

Student Awards

Awa Sanou won the department’s Best Master’s Thesis Award of 2015 for Technology Adoption when Risk Attitudes Matter: Evidence from Incentivized Field Experiments in Niger (major prof: S. Liverpool-Tasie).

Ayala Wineman won the department’s Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award of 2015 for Essays on Land Access in Kagera, Tanzania: Markets, Migration, and Bequests. (major prof: S. Liverpool-Tasie).

Mary Doidge won the award for Best Presentation of Research at the Idea Stage at the 2016 Graduate Research Symposium for her Ph.D. research presentation, “The Potential Role of Regret in Land Conversion Decisions.”

Mary Doidge was awarded a 2016 ESPP Climate, Food, Energy and Water Summer Research Fellowship for her summer research project entitled, “A behavioral approach to land use changes in North and South Dakota.”

Jeffrey Bloem won the award for Best Presentation of Research in Progress at the 2016 Graduate Research Symposium for his M.S. research presentation, “Measuring Hope: An Empirical Approach with Validation from Rural Myanmar.”

Florencia Colella won the award for Best Presentation of Completed Research at the 2016 Graduate Research Symposium for her M.S. research presentation, “Consumer Preferences for Retail Channel and Beef Steak Attributes: Experimental Evidence from Argentinean Consumers.”

Maolong Chen won second place in the 2015-16 Shao Chang Lee Best Graduate Student Paper Competition of the MSU Asian Studies Center for his master’s research paper, “Emerging Markets for U.S. Pork in China: Experimental Evidence from Mainland and Hongkong Consumers.”

Henry Akaeze and Assa Dembele were awarded Dissertation Completion Fellowships for Summer 2016 by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.