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AEDE

Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics

CFAES

Research

University seal on Thompson library

Faculty research - nationally ranked #1

The Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE) was recently ranked as the number one agricultural economics department for research activity in the nation. Within the research metrics, the department ranked:

  • #1 in citations for faculty members
  • #1 in citations per journal article
  • #2 in articles per faculty member

Our 21 world-class faculty members and graduate students use an interdisciplinary approach to apply economics to agricultural, environmental and other societal issues. We are proud to be at the forefront of producing research and generating knowledge that solves local and global challenges. Faculty members in the department actively support informed public and private decision-making through inter and cross-disciplinary research-based outreach activities. 

As published in the journal Ecological Economics, the department is one of the most influential academic departments working in the field of environmental and resource economics. We hold particular strengths in the economics of climate change, the valuation of environmental goods and services, and the economics of land use and rural/urban land issues.

Graduate student research

Graduate education and research go hand-in-hand. Students in our Phd program are given a wide latitude to design their own program of study and choose a dissertation topic. Under the supervision of faculty members, doctoral students have conducted innovative theoretical and applied research on agricultural policy and trade, agricultural finance and risk management, consumption and marketing economics, food economics and agribusiness, environmental and natural resource economics, international and regional economic development, poverty and food security, climate change, spatial and land-use economics, health economics, bioeconomics, and experimental and behavioral economics. Innovative research that addresses pressing social problems is encouraged, regardless of the sub-discipline of economics with which it may be identified.

Undergraduate student research

There are many ways for undergraduate students to get involved with research at the University. We encourage students to connect with their assigned faculty mentors/advisors on their research interests. Visit the Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry website to learn more.