President's Column
February 2022
I am pleased to congratulate the 2022 AAEA Fellows Class consisting of Keith Coble, Craig Gundersen, Rudy Nayga, Ashok Mishra, Brian Roe, and Melinda Smale for their distinguished achievements and contributions to the profession. Thanks to our Fellows Selection Committee for their work that, I can imagine, involves difficult choices among many deserving candidates.
AAEA continues to invest in mentoring and professional development of its members. To foster disciplinary diversity in our research, AAEA in collaboration with the Council for Food Agricultural and Resource Economics, the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and the Tri-Societies of America is planning to organize a two-day workshop “Building Interdisciplinary Collaborations to Transform Food and Agriculture into Circular Systems: A Mid-Career Mentoring Workshop” to mentor mid-career professionals interested in inter-disciplinary research. The workshop will be held June 6-8 in Kansas City, MO. We are developing an interactive program to provide a hand-on learning experience of engaging with other disciplines and for participants with experienced panelists that can advise mid-career scholars in best practices for interdisciplinary research in the context of circular food and agricultural systems. If you are interested, please save the date and look out for more information in the Exchange and the AAEA website (https://www.aaea.org/meetings/professional-workshops/upcoming-professional-workshops/building-interdisciplinary-collaborations-to-transform-food-and-agriculture-into-circular-systems-a-mid-career-mentoring-workshop) to submit an application to participate in this.
I am looking forward to the 2022 AAEA Annual Meeting, which will take place July 31 to August 2 in Anaheim, CA. Thanks to all the members that have submitted proposals for selected presentations and other sessions. We have an exciting program being planned with diverse topics for pre- and post-conferences as well as invited paper sessions that are being planned. I anticipate that we will have a high-quality program with a stimulating professional and intellectual climate. As we continue to watch the evolving COVID situation, we are planning a hybrid meeting. Hybrid meetings are more challenging to organize than either all in-person or virtual. While many associations are considering offering only virtual conferences this year, we feel it is important to offer our members the opportunity to engage and network in-person. The Board is working hard to explore ways to make the hybrid conference experience a high quality and productive one for both presenters and the audience while at the same time keep it affordable for all. We will also be reaching out to the session organizers and section leaders to engage them in this effort. I encourage you to consider making plans to attend either in-person or virtually. Anaheim is a fantastic and family friendly place to visit in the summer with many interesting things to do in addition to attending the meeting activities.
As a part of AAEA’s ongoing efforts to make the profession more inclusive and to foster diversity I would like to draw your attention to the recent online survey that was sent by you by researchers from Arizona State University, in partnership with The Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Task Force to assess attitudes and experiences with diversity in the profession. Please consider completing the survey at https://asumorrison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2n77DwecmJn8eIC before February 28, 2022, to inform AAEA about your experiences and ideas to make the profession more inclusive for its members.