Kelsey Hopkins

Kelsey Hopkins

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PhD Student

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Degrees:
B.A. Mathematics, University of Iowa
B.S. Economics, University of Iowa
A.S. Rock Valley College

Major professor: Melissa McKendree

Major professor’s email: mckend14@msu.edu 

Expected graduation date: Spring 2023 

Degree type: Ph.D. 

Areas of specialization: Food and Agricultural Economics, Mixed Methods, Community-Engaged Research, Agribusiness 

Personal website: https://www.kelseyahopkins.com 

Title of Job Market Paper: Resolving the Reality Gap in Farm Regulation Voting Models 

View Kelsey's CV here.

Kelsey is a PhD candidate with research interests in the intersection of animal agriculture and food economics, agricultural policy, specialty and niche markets, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She strives to include active community engagement in her work through a mixed-methods approach involving interviews and other qualitative methods to inform design of quantitative data collection techniques.

In 2021, Kelsey was awarded a highly competitive 3-year USDA-NIFA predoctoral grant to fund her dissertation project, "Avoiding Halal Meat Food Fraud: Consumer Preferences, Retailer Motivations, and Processor Practices." Her project focuses on food fraud in halal meat markets, in particular U.S. consumer, retailer, and processor perceptions and willingness to pay for/supply halal meat certification attributes and verification technologies as a means for avoiding food fraud.

Her previous research involves voting behavior as a form of preference expression, sustainable wool consumption patterns, and implementation of best management practices on beef cattle operations. Kelsey is originally from Belvidere, Illinois, which is a small agricultural town northwest of Chicago. She came to the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at MSU because she wants to conduct research that benefits people and can actively improve their lives.