President's Column
September 2023
As mentioned in the last newsletter, the AAEA Board has created new task forces. Thank you to the following who graciously agreed to serve:
- Access Task Force: Sathya Gopalakrishnan (chair), Sarah Low, Chrystol Thomas Winston, April Athnos, Elizabeth Fraysse, Gail Cramer, and Vincenzina Caputo
- Publications Task Force: Amy Ando (chair), Jesse Tack, Gopi Munisamy, Tim Beatty, Zhengfei Guan, Jason Bergtold, Laura Schechter, and Glynn Tonsor
- Health/Well Being Task Force: Carola Grebitus and Alicia Rosburg (co-chairs), Kelly Davidson, Elena Krasovskaia, Bailey Samper, Anne Byrne, Jane Kolodinsky, John Lai, Nilufer Cetik, and Helen Jensen.
- ERS-AAEA “Building the Pipeline” Cooperative Agreement: Andrew Muhammad (chair), Kenrett Jefferson Moore, Joey Mehlhorn, Marco Palma, Ibrahim Mohamed, Kristin Kiesel, Cesar Escalante, and Kevin Smith.
With AAEA Board approval, we also recently created a Committee on Ag Econ Education. The idea is for AAEA to initiate programs that can improve pre-college students’ knowledge of what agricultural and applied economics is all about in the hope that they will consider our discipline as a degree choice. This committee will be chaired by Lisa House, and initial members are Jerrod Penn, Christine Wilson, Christiane Schroeter, Anna Josephson, Glynn Tonsor, and Aslihan Spaulding.
Most of these committees/task forces have already started discussing several action items.
The AAEA Trust supports the work of agricultural and applied economists by funding programs, initiatives, activities, or other creative endeavors designed to advance the profession. Proposals are chosen to receive funding based on their ability to accomplish at least one of the following goals: support graduate student and early career professional development, enhance the AAEA Annual Meeting, broaden participation in AAEA across the year (beyond Annual meetings), address our strategic goal to be more inclusive through outreach to new groups, and broaden the horizons of the current membership. Proposals from AAEA Committees, Sections, and members are encouraged, and will be reviewed by the AAEA Trust Committee, which will make recommendations to the AAEA Board for action at the January 2024 Board Meeting. Proposals should be submitted to Kristen McGuire (kmcguire@aaea.org) by October 16, 2023.