AFRE People and Awards (Winter 2015-16)

AFRE People and Awards (Winter 2015-16)

Faculty and Staff News

Jordan Chamberlin (Ph.D., 2013) resigned as assistant professor in AFRE at the Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute in Lusaka, Zambia, to accept the position of spatial economist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, starting in August 2015.

Boubacar Diallo, Thomas Reardon and Steve Longabaugh are principal investigators on a new $6 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to help Senegal increase its agricultural capacity.  The project is a collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute under the USAID-funded Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy.

The Farm Information Resource Management (FIRM) Team received the 2015 Institute Team Award from MSU Extension for outstanding team efforts, collaboration, programming, outreach and impact.  The award was presented  Oct. 13 at the 2015 MSU Extension Key Partner and Staff Awards Banquet.  FIRM Team members are J. Roy Black, Roger Betz, James Hilker, Adam Kantrovich, Dennis Stein, Curtis Talley, Katelyn Thompson, David Schweikhardt and Christopher Wolf.

David Hennessy and Hongli Feng joined the department Aug. 16, 2016. Hennessy is the Elton R. Smith Professor of Food and Agricultural Policy, and  Feng is an associate professor.  Both came from Iowa State University.

Saweda Liverpool-Tasie was named associate editor of Agricultural Economics, the journal of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, as of September.

Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, Thomas Reardon, Laura Schmidt Olabisi and Steve Longabaugh are principal investigators on a new $12.5 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to assist Nigeria to strengthen its food security policies and nutritional outcomes. The project is a collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the University of Ibadan and Ahmadu Bello University under the USAID-funded Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy.

Eduardo Nakasone and Véronique Thériault were named 2016 fellows in the MSU Academy for Global Engagement.  The academy is designed to create a new generation of international research experts at MSU by offering early- to mid-career faculty members the opportunity to expand their scholarship on a global level.

Christopher Peterson was presented with a tribute letter from Gov. Rick Snyder. In the letter, presented at the Making It in Michigan Conference at the Lansing Center in Lansing Nov. 10, the governor expressed deep appreciation for Peterson’s years of dedication to his work with the Product Center. Details in the MSU Extension Spotlight (Nov. 19, 2015).

Mark Skidmore has been named director of the North Central Region Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD). He will replace Scott Loveridge as director Jan. 1. The NCRCRD works with Extension professionals, researchers and their partners to enhance rural development outcomes in the north central region, which comprises Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Felicia Wu is featured in a new video about her MSU research at the nexus of agriculture, food and health.

 

Student News

Agribusiness management major Rosalyn Brummette was one of two MSU delegates to the 10th International Student Summit on Agriculture, Food and the Environment in the New Century, held in Tokyo Sept. 30-Oct. 1.  Brummette is also a 2015 Demmer Scholar.

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