President's Column
October 2021
Following the meetings in Austin, it is great to see our Board, Committees and Sections engaged in organizing events for AAEA. We have an exciting program planned for the ASSA meetings, January 7-9, 2022 which are being held virtually. We have six sessions that cover a wide range of topics including the effects of land property rights on land use, the effects of COVID-19 on agricultural markets and trade, the relationship between food prices and affordability of healthy diets and the effects of climate change on agricultural production. Information about all of the sessions that AAEA is hosting at ASSA can be found here: https://www.aaea.org/meetings/aaea-at-assa-annual-meeting/aaea-at-2022-assa-annual-meeting
We are delighted to have Lisa Schulte Moore, Professor of Landscape Ecology, Iowa State University, and a winner of the 2021 MacArthur Fellow Award as the speaker for the TW Schultz Memorial Lecture at the ASSA meetings, on January 8, 2022. Lisa has done pioneering work on designing and implementing locally relevant approaches to improve the sustainability of row crop agriculture. Her leadership is advancing new transdisciplinary approaches to co-produce knowledge that can be mobilized for action. I hope you will tune in to hear her virtual presentation.
We are continuing efforts to engage AAEA with other professional societies and disciplines to promote research and action on moving towards a more sustainable agricultural system. An upcoming webinar on “Transforming Food Systems for a Circular Economy” on Oct 27, 2021 at 1 pm Central Time, organized in conjunction with CFARE will bring leading thinkers to share their perspectives on this topic. The speakers are Bruno Basso (Michigan State), James Jones (U. Florida), Charles Rice (Kansas State) and David Zilberman (UC Berkeley). More information and link to register is at https://illinois.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YPHikUxJSEeQvAfFwPiB-A Registration is free but required in advance for this webinar.
As emphasized by our strategic plan, the AAEA had committed to engaging with a broader set of stakeholders, as well as to more directly increasing diversity, equity and inclusion. To address these goals, we have partnered actively over the past year with Together We Grow (TWG), a consortium of some of the world’s largest agribusiness interests — major agricultural commodities companies, educational institutions, government agencies, and national nonprofits — focused on building the workforce of tomorrow and ensuring that the workforce is skilled, diverse, and inclusive. Past-president Dawn Thilmany will continue to liaise with that group this year, and in addition, Board member Andrew Muhummad and CWAE leader Kelly Grogan will join her in a transformational leadership training led by that organization over the next few months
Our plans for the new journal titled Journal of AAEA (JAAEA) are moving forward under the leadership of Tim Beatty as Founding Editor. We have chosen a cover design and are currently setting up the Scholar One site in preparation of issuing a call for submissions before the end of the year and bringing out the first issue in Spring 2022.
We have wrapped up the Austin Meeting by making the plenary talks available on the AAEA website. For those not able to attend this year, these talks can be found at
- Presidential Address: https://www.aaea.org/meetings/2021-aaea-annual-meeting/events/plenary-sessions/presidential-address
- Galbraith Lecture: https://www.aaea.org/meetings/2021-aaea-annual-meeting/events/plenary-sessions/galbraith-forum
- Fellows Address: https://www.aaea.org/meetings/2021-aaea-annual-meeting/events/plenary-sessions/fellows-address
- Gordon Rausser Keynote Address: https://www.aaea.org/meetings/2021-aaea-annual-meeting/events/plenary-sessions/gordon-rausser-keynote-address
We have started planning for the Annual Meetings in August 2022 in Anaheim, CA. Sections have been allocated their Track sessions, so you have likely received information (or will soon hear) from your leadership on ways to get involved with the 2022 program. We anticipate that some level of virtual participation will continue and hope to have more information on the format for the meetings in the coming months.
There are several deadlines for proposals and fellowship applications approaching. This includes the call for proposals for funding from the AAEA Trust to support graduate student and early career professional development and other activities that broaden participation and make us more inclusive. There are a number of fellowships available to support mentoring activities and facilitate participation by members from low-income countries. The latest addition to this has been the Uma Lele Mentor Fellowship Award for Women from low-income countries. Please consider nominating colleagues for these awards and supporting junior colleagues by offering to serve as mentors.
Look for upcoming announcements to submit Selected Presentations, Organized Symposia, Invited Papers, and Award nominations. We welcome your contributions to our program and nominations of worthy colleagues for an Award.
Finally, thanks to all of you for keeping AAEA a vibrant professional community and staying connected despite the constraints of the Pandemic. Stay safe!