Spotlights

May 2008
John Stranlund, Maria Alejandra Velez (ResEc PhD, 2006), and former faculty member Jim Murphy use field experiments to explore individual motivations in small-scale fishing communities in Colombia.

John Stranlund, along with former ResEc faculty member Jim Murphy, led a team of UMass researchers in exploring the harvesting behavior of individuals in Colombian communities that depend heavily on local small-scale fishing. Maria Alejandra Velez (ResEc PhD, 2006) and Maria Claudia Lopez (ResEc PhD, 2007) conducted common pool experiments in five geographically distinct communities with subjects who are intimately connected to a local fishery. The goals of this research are to better understand the use of local natural resources in poor areas of the developing world, and to examine the potential for effective government interventions in these communities. The first results of this effort will be published this year in two journal articles:

Maria Alejandra Velez, John K. Stranlund and James J. Murphy. 2008. “What Motivates Common Pool Resource Users? Experimental Evidence from the Field.” Forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.

Maria Alejandra Velez, James J. Murphy, and John K. Stranlund. 2008. “Centralized and Decentralized Management of Local Common Pool Resources in the Developing World: Experimental Evidence from Fishing Communities in Colombia.” Forthcoming in Economic Inquiry.

This research is one component of a long-standing relationship with the Pontifica Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, and is part of ResEc’s research and teaching initiative in experimental economics. For more about ResEc’s partnership with Javeriana see Colombia Partnership. For more about the department’s experiment economics program see Experimental Economics.

May 2008
Julie Caswell, Professor and Chair of Resource Economics awarded Fulbright grant to Italy >>More

March 2008
Congratulations to our newest ResEc graduate!
Edward J. Kern, B.S. in Resource Economics, 2008
For many years, I had contemplated the idea of going back to school and finally completing the necessary courses to acquire my diploma. My degree pursuit began in September of 1981 and culminated this year on February 1st, 2008. As my daughter Brittany was entering college in September of 2006, it seemed likely that she would be a college graduate before me. This reality truly and literally hit home and after some soul searching, I reached out to several administrators at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I asked for their assistance in devising a clear and direct route for me to follow toward graduation. After a bit of bureaucratic red tape and a Winter Intersession Course, I’m honored to stand before you as a “UMass Grad”. Regardless of the fact that I have been on the 27 year plan, I am elated to share this accomplishment with you. Many thanks should go to Dr. Julie Caswell and Dr. Martha Baker, for without their encouragement, support and direction I would not be a graduate today.
All the best to you with your endeavors,
Edward J. Kern, Class of 1985-2008
RE/MAX Executive Realty
edkern 'at' remaxexec.com

March 30, 2007
David McEvoy and Bernardo Urdaneta named Carolyn Harper Fellows
View Slideshow
The Carolyn Harper Fund and Fellowship >>more
The Vijay Bhagavan Teaching Assistant of Distinction Award >>more

The Resource Economics Department held an awards ceremony to honor David McEvoy and Bernardo Urdaneta as new Carolyn Harper Fellows on March 30, 2007. They were chosen for their scholarly achievement and concern for social and environmental issues, as well as for racial and gender justice.

David McEvoy grew up in Massachusetts, earned a M.S. from University College London, and is currently completing his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Resource Economics. His research focuses on a theoretical and experimental analysis of voluntary agreements for environmental protection.

Bernardo Urdaneta grew up in Venezuela and attended Lycoming College in the United States. He received an M.S. degree in Resource Economics in 2006, conducting research on evaluating alternative funding mechanisms for Acadia National Park. He is currently working in Boston with CERA (Cambridge Energy Research Associates).

The fellowship was established in memory of Dr. Carolyn Harper, as associate professor of Resource Economics, who died of cancer in 1993. Harper was an award winning scholar who published widely on the economics of pesticide regulation, groundwater protection, and worker safety.

We were joined at the awards ceremony by Carolyn’s husband, David Nussbaum; Dean Cleve Willis; former Harper Fellows Tammy Barlow Murphy and Corinna Noelke; and Bernardo’s father, Mr. German Urdaneta, who was visiting from Venezuela.

Fall, 2006
Hillary Gelardi Named 2006 Vijay Bhagavan Teaching Assistant of Distinction
Hillary Gelardi, shown here receiving her award from Dr. Bernie Morzuch, is the 2006 recipient of theVijay Bhagavan Teaching Assistant of Distinction Award given to Teaching Assistants of Excellence. Hillary has been a Teaching Assistant in ResEc 211 Introductory Statistics for the Life Sciences for three semesters. She has earned top evaluations from her students and the admiration and thanks of the professors with whom she has worked. Hillary will complete her Master’s degree in May 2007.

Fall, 2006
Resource Economics is happy to welcome two new faculty members:
Dr. John Spraggon joins the department as an Associate Professor after being on faculty at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario from 1999-2006. Dr. Spraggon completed his M.A. and Ph.D. at McMaster University and eared his B.A. in Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Spraggon joins the Experimental Economics Group in the department. He has published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Experimental Economics, the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and the Journal of Public Economics. His work focuses on the decision-making by individuals in different institutional settings. Dr. Spraggon is teaching graduate microeconomics and experimental economics courses in the department.

Dr. Christian Rojas joins the department as an Assistant Professor after completing his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech University in September 2005 and serving for a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. He holds a M.S. degree in economics from Virginia Tech and a B.A. in economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Dr. Rojas’s dissertation focused on Demand Estimation with Differentiated Products: An Application to Price Competition in US Brewing. In addition, Dr. Rojas is conducting research using experimental economics to evaluate the role of information and monitoring in cartel stability. He was named the 2004 Graduate Student Teacher of the Year in the Department of Economics at Virginia Tech and is experienced with using interactive technology in classroom

August, 2006
Resource Economics faculty Nathalie Lavoie receives Honorable Mention for the 2005 Outstanding American Journal of Agricultural Economics Article
Each year the editors of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics choose the Outstanding Journal Article for the previous year. For the year 2005, Dr. Nathalie Lavoie's article "Price Discrimination in the Context of Vertical Differentiation: An Application to Canadian Wheat Exports" won an Honorable Mention for this award. The article examines the ability of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) to price discriminate in wheat exports. The conceptual model shows that the CWB's ability to exploit cost differences in pricing depends on the extent of differentiation between Canadian and U.S. wheat. The model is implemented using monthly confidential price data for exports to four markets from 1982 to 1994. The empirical results support the conclusions that (1) the CWB has market power emerging from product differentiation, (2) the CWB price discriminates across export markets, and (3) Alchian–Allen effects are important in pricing in markets valuing quality such as Japan and the United Kingdom.

John Stranlund
College of Natural Resources and the Environment
Outstanding Achievement Award for Research
Dr. John Stranlund has earned national and international recognition as a leading scholar in the analysis of the regulation of pollution and has made distinctive contributions through the use of experimental economics methods. John’s research program focuses on the theoretical design and experimental evaluation of environmental policy (e.g., the regulation of air and water pollution) and natural resource management (e.g., the management of water, forests, and fisheries). Effective environmental policy and natural resource management requires an understanding of the resources being managed, their ownership (or lack of ownership in the case of common pool resources such as air), and regulatory systems and the incentives they create.

John’s work uses economic theory to evaluate the incentives of companies to comply with environmental and resource management policies and, recently, uses experiments (in the laboratory and the field) to test the theory in simulated real world conditions. This body of work is important because the key factors that influence who complies and to what extent with policies, and ultimately the outcomes achieved (e.g., cleaner air), are difficult to evaluate in complex situations. John’s work focuses on evaluating the types of market mechanisms (e.g., emissions trading) that are increasingly being used both nationally and internationally to regulate pollution. He has also used these methodological approaches to analyze the governance of communal natural resources such as forests in developing countries. Thus his work provides important tests of the effectiveness of such policies exactly at the time they are increasingly popular and becoming more widely used by governments.

Sheila Mammen
College of Natural Resources and the Environment
Outstanding Achievement Award for Advising
Dr. Sheila Mammen arrived on campus a little over a decade ago as Head of the Consumer Studies Department, a department that had a large and vibrant undergraduate program in two majors. As well as being Department Head, Sheila advised students in the Family and Consumer Sciences major. When she joined the Resource Economics Department, Sheila became the driving force in recruiting for the major. She served as Undergraduate Program Director from 2003-2005, more than doubling the number of department majors.

During her tenure as Undergraduate Program Director, Sheila was the first point of contact for any undergraduate interested in the major. She provided each candidate with individual attention to make sure that he or she was making the correct decision when choosing Resource Economics as a major field of study. Furthermore, once a candidate made a decision to enter the major, Sheila assisted that person with selecting an area of concentration. She was not satisfied simply with having potential entrants use her as the initial contact for our program. She went out and actively recruited students for the department. She realized the depth of undergraduate talent out there waiting to be tapped. She was unwilling to let it alone. She wanted to show these potential majors how rewarding the discipline of Resource Economics can be.

Sheila perennially focused on making things better for the student. As an example, she recognized the importance of providing students with applicability of their discipline while they were taking courses. As a result, she instituted enrollment in an internship as an avenue for application. In the Consumer Economics track to Resource Economics, students are required to do an internship. Lining up potential internships for students is no small feat. Sheila personally took on this task. Students rave about this aspect of the major. They cite Sheila’s care and tenacity as the reason for their success. Sheila is the ultimate advisor. She considers all angles pertaining to making a Resource Economics major’s experience the best possible.

Glenn Caffery
Chancellor’s Citation Award
Glenn Caffery is the Director of the Statistical Lab in the Resource Economics Department, a job title that definitely does not capture all he does. His intelligent leadership put the Department of Resource Economics at the Information Technology forefront as people discovered his amazing abilities, abundant energy and endless willingness to assist others. Glenn is the person who put Personal Response Systems (PRS) into large auditoriums on campus. UMass Amherst is now the leading campus in the world for “clicker” use with over 8,000 clickers in action in an academic year. He rewrote the PRS software to aid grading of student answers and he was a co-PI on the Davis Education Foundation Grants to Redesign Large Lecture Courses with technology. As the Director of the UMass IT Program, Glenn has led an IT Minor that is the crown jewel of the program and is being cited throughout the country. When Microsoft named UMass the First IT Showcase School in the nation, he was cited as a critical person in creating the IT environment that Microsoft found so attractive on campus.

Glenn was a driving force behind the Learning Commons opened on campus in fall 2005. He was early to recognize the power of the LC to transform undergraduate learning and on his own visited several around the country. He then made the rounds on campus as the Director of the IT Program to share this vision with key people. He wrote a document describing what the Learning Commons could be and was asked to introduce the Learning Commons to the campus with a kickoff event. He still had miles to go before a LC appeared on campus. He attended numerous meetings, and went on a cross-country fact-finding trip to Arizona and Indiana to answer lingering questions about these new uses of a Library’s space. Glenn has led with tremendous energy, brilliant insights regarding students and technology, undaunted optimism, and a collaborative style that captivated all.

Bernie Morzuch
TEACHnology Fellow 2006-07
Bernie Morzuch’s commitment to teaching is off the charts; this is particularly evident when he is teaching a demanding, large, general education course in the field of statistics. Since his early career at UMass Amherst, he has taught biometrics, now Introductory Statistics for the Life Sciences, building this course into one that is recognized across campus for its quality. Bernie’s course evaluations are stellar in undergraduate and graduate courses. He has won several campus and national teaching awards over the years. What is most admirable about Bernie’s approach to teaching is that his enthusiasm never fails and he is always in the process of improving his courses.

Bernie’s commitment is to the learning of students. He combines meticulous preparation with an infectious wonder and tough standards. His use of the blackboard is masterful. Starting in 2002, Bernie began participating in the Davis Grant on Redesigning the Large Classroom as part of the team teaching Introductory Statistics in the Resource Economics Department. Bernie was chosen to participate based on his phenomenal teaching prowess, achieved without the use of technology. He contributed a multi-semester test of teaching approaches by progressively adding new elements from semester to semester. In spring 2002 he taught as usual without technology. Then in spring 2003 he added OWL (on-line testing) and in fall 2003 added the Personal Response System (PRS). Using careful experimental design and statistical analysis, this experience convinced Bernie that the technology aided student learning. Bernie will be using his year as a University of Massachusetts TEACHnology fellow to take his use of the “blackboard style” to a new level, using a Tablet PC, with color, in the classroom to project to the big screen for all to see, and with digital capture for reviewing post lecture.

Fall, 2006
Dan Lass Demonstrates Use of Technology Enhanced Classroom
Dan Lass teaches Introductory Econometrics with a laptop connected to the projection system in the demo classroom (Tobin 204). Dr. Lass also uses Personal Response System (PRS) "clickers" for students to participate in the course. The new radio frequency transmitters he is using allow students to do calculations with their own personalized data sets. Dan downloads these data to students the evening before class. He also uses the old technology -- the chalkboard.

The goal of the Classroom Improvement Project (Instructional Technology for UMass Classrooms), is to provide 90 classrooms across campus with projection, video, and audio equipment. The project focuses on general-purpose classrooms with 30–90 seats that lack instructional technology beyond overhead projectors and internet access. >>more

October 21, 2005
From Vision to Reality: The UMass Learning Commons Opens!
How can we create an environment where students can collaborate with each other and get access to library, information technology, writing, and advising services in one dynamic place? Richard Rogers (right) and Glenn Caffery (left) are leaders of the team that had this vision and have made it happen at UMass. The Learning Commons (LC), in the Du Bois Library, was formally dedicated on October 21st. Students have been packing it ever since it made a rolling start in early September.

Richard, as Faculty Advisor to the Provost for Undergraduate Education, chaired the Learning Commons Committee and Glenn fired the Committee with ideas and enthusiasm. Glenn is also currently serving as Chair of the UMass Information Technology Program.

On October 21st, Microsoft Corp. designated the University of Massachusetts Amherst as the first Microsoft IT Showcase School in the nation, recognizing the university’s innovative leadership in applying information technology to teaching and learning. Resource Economics was a key contributor to UMass earning this recognition through its pioneering of the use of personal response systems, web-based quizzing, and tablet PCs in courses, and through the ResEc-led IT Program. Go ResEc and Go UMass!

For more on the Learning Commons see: http://www.umass.edu/umhome/ news/articles/24587.php

For more on the Microsoft IT Showcase School designation see:
http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/ newsreleases/articles/24104.php

Fall, 2005
Chunxiang (Lisa) Li Receives the 2005 Vijay Bhagavan Teaching Assistant of Distinction Award
Chunxiang (Lisa) Li, shown here receiving her award from Bernie Morzuch, is the 2005 recipient of the Vijay Bhagavan Teaching Assistant of Distinction Award given the to Teaching Assistant who best exemplifies Vijay's special approach to life. Lisa joins a line of distinguished Teaching Assistants whose outstanding performance keeps alive Vijay's spirit.

December 2-3, 2004
Workshop on the Economics of Food Safety
Twenty-five researchers from around the country and from the European Union gathered on campus December 2-3 for a workshop on food safety policy titled "Economic Measures of Interventions". The workshop was sponsored by the Food Safety Research Consortium, (http://www.rff.org/fsrc/ ) a multi-disciplinary collaboration to improve public health, of which the Food Marketing Policy Center in the Department of Resource Economics is one of the founding members. Speakers at the workshop included Julie Caswell (left), and two of her former students, Neal Hooker (PhD'97) (right), Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, The Ohio State University, and Seda Erdem (MS'04), Research Associate.

December 6, 2004
Alumni visited campus to talk with students about how they use their Resource Economics training on the job.
In the consumer goods industry, category analysts such as alumni Jen Gruber, Jessica Teilborg, and Mike Chisholm use data and trend analysis to support business decisions on which products should be stocked in stores, how much promotion should they receive, and how categories, and even aisles, should be organized. Jen, Jess, and Mike came to campus on December 6 to talk to current food marketing students about the types of analysis they do and how they use the econometric, statistical, industrial organization, and presentation skills they gained in the Resource Economics Department in their work as category analysts.

Jen Lewis Gruber earned a BS in Resource Economics in 1995 and a MS in 1997. She works for Advantage Sales and Marketing in the Boston area. Jessica Teilborg earned a BS in Resource Economics in 2001 and works for Unilever, with her home office in New Jersey. Mike Chisholm graduated with a BS in 2003. He works with Jen at Advantage Sales and Marketing. Jen, Jess, and Mike would be happy to be in contact with students interested in food marketing. Contact Julie Caswell for more information.

Spring, 2004
Sheila Mammen is leading a study on the well-being of families in Franklin County, part of a 16-state USDA study to gauge the impact of welfare reform on rural families. >>more

March 24, 2004
Roger King (MS’72) was on campus to attend the North American premiere of the documentary “Still the Children Are Here”. Filmed entirely in a remote village in northeast India, the place where rice cultivation started 6,000 years ago, it looks at life through the eyes and voices of several of the villagers. As executive producer, Roger conceived the idea for the film, brought together the funding and filmakers and oversaw its content, production and editing. He introduced the film by noting: “There’s a conundrum: the place is extremely valuable to the rest of the world, but the rest of the world is destroying it.” >>more

March 11, 2004
Gilbert Metcalf (MS'84) has been on campus a couple of times recently. On March 11, he presented a seminar in the Center for Public Policy/Resource Economics series titled "Pollution Taxes in a Second-Best World" in which he laid out some of the distortions caused by imposing taxes on pollution (actually on material like coal that cause pollution) and on giving away or selling pollution permits. In early February he met with other members of the newly formed Dean's Advisory Council, intended to strengthen connections between the College, alumnae and friends. >>more

October 4, 2004
Richard McAniff (BS’71, MS’76), vice president of the Access and Excel business unit of Microsoft Corporation, visited campus in his new role as the Executive Alumnus for the UMass/Microsoft partnership. >>more

November 13, 2004
Peter K. Lewenberg (BS’69) joined with Commissioner Kathy Abbott from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (herself a Stockbridge School alumna) and Superintendent George Price, National Park Service, to give a talk Entitled: “A New Model For Public Parks”. >>more

2003
College Distinguished Teaching Award goes to Daniel Lass
This year's College Distinguished Teaching Award goes to Daniel Lass. Dan was also elected President of the Northeast Agricultural and Resource Economics Association.

January, 2003
Richard Rogers is on leave from the Department as the Faculty Advisor to the Provost for Undergraduate Education, a two year appointment. >>more.
(Photo by Stan Sherer)

March 14, 2003
Tenth anniversary of the fellowship established in memory of Carolyn Harper
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the fellowship established in memory of Carolyn Harper, an associate professor of Resource Economics, who died of cancer in 1993. The fellowship is awarded to graduate students who exemplify her ideals. This year’s recipients are Ning Ding and Maria Alejandra Vélez. >>more

Photo: Dean Cleve Willis with Ning Ding (top) and Maria Alejandra Velez (bottom).

A team of Japanese scholars, led by Takuji Sakurai, has just published a book containing translations of several book chapters, edited by Julie Caswell, on the economics of food safety and nutrition. They expect the book to serve as a central source for researchers interested in studying markets for food
quality.

Presented at the ACNielsen Category Masters Conference in August, the award recognizes the sales agency in the consumer packaged goods industry that demonstrated the best category management practices over the past year. Congratulations Jen and Jess!

2002
Professor Dan Lass received the 2002 New York Farmers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Agriculture.

Each year, an award is given for important advances in agriculture by the deans of the agricultural colleges in the northeast. Dan is being recognized for his research on the dairy industry, farm family labor decisions and Community Supported Agriculture.