Empower Your Team With
AFRE Job Candidates.
Advancing Economics. Transforming Lives.
The Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (AFRE) at Michigan State University is a globally renowned leader in agricultural and applied economics. AFRE is dedicated to addressing real-world problems by linking cutting-edge research with policy and business challenges. With more than 5000 alumni and a faculty made up of dynamic researchers, teachers, and informed practitioners, AFRE prepares the next generation of applied economists and managers to meet the needs of economic systems in Michigan and across the globe.
Fernanda Alfaro-Gonzalez, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Local Public Finances and Regional Development
References: Mark Skidmore; Scott Loveridge; Dusan Paredes
Job Market Paper: Cross-State Pass-Through on Subway Sandwiches After a Minimum Wage Increase
Email: alfarog3@msu.edu
Nahian Bin Khaled, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Technology Adoption, Social Transfer Programs, and Agricultural Value Chains
References: Mywish Maredia, Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, Ben Belton
Email: nahian@msu.edu
Samuel Darko-Koomson, Master’s Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Soil Testing; Soil Health; Farmer Behavior
References: Nicole Mason-Wardell
Email: darkokoo@msu.edu
Zekuan Dong, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Agricultural Economics
References: Frank Lupi, Aleks Scheafer, Songqing Jin
Job Market Paper: Urbanization and Livestock Disease: Evidence from Bovine Tuberculosis in 1 Great Britain
Email: dongzeku@msu.edu
Michael Hall, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Labor Economics, Production Economics, Development Economics
References: Alan Ker, Zachariah Rutledge, Mywish Maredia
Email: hallmi27@msu.edu
Anna Hooks, Master’s Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Labor Economics, Adaptation Strategies
References: Zachariah Rutledge, Jaime Luke
Email: hooksann@msu.edu
Ye Rim Lee, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Energy Resilience, Climate Disasters, Fuel & Power Markets
References: Mark Skidmore, Scott Loveridge, Dusan Paredes
Job Market Paper: Short-Term Impact of Wildfire on Retail Gasoline Prices
Email: leeye12@msu.edu
Yeyoung Lee, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Water Resource Interventions, Women's Empowerment, Climate and Household Resilience
References: Nicole Mason-Wardell, Elizabeth Bryan, Veronique Theriault, Jeffrey M. Wooldridge
Job Market Paper: Does small-scale irrigation affect women’s time allocation? Insights from Ethiopia
Email: leeyeyou@msu.edu
Lin Lin, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Food Policy, Food Marketing, Agri-food Supply Chain Resilience
References: David Ortega (chair), Scott Swinton, Brent Ross, Holly Wang
Job Market Paper: Drivers of state legislative actions restricting foreign holdings of U.S. agricultural land
Email: linlin9@msu.edu
Jiawen Liu, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: International Trade; Development; Networks Analysis
References: Michael Olabisi , Songqing Jin, Maredia Mywish, Chun Zhu
Job Market Paper: Trade Resilience to Natural Disasters: A Structural Perspective on Global Vulnerabilities
Email: liujiaw5@msu.edu
Saera Oh, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: International Trade, Agriculture in International Trade
References: Nicole Mason-Wardell, Songqing Jin, Oren Ziv, Chun (Susan) Zhu
Job Market Paper: Related Party Trade and Gravity: Revisiting the Distance Effects
Email: ohsaera@msu.edu
Jordan Renn, Master’s Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Food and Agriculture Economics
References: Jaime Luke, Shaheer Burney
Email: rennjord@msu.edu
Noormah Rizwan, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Climate change adaptation; urban water economics and governance; agricultural economics; applied microeconomics; spatial data analysis and GIS; impact evaluation and policy design.
References: Molly Sears, James Sears, Soren Anderson, Mywish Maredia
Job Market Paper: Weathering the Change: Modeling Crop Choices in Response to Climate Variability
Email: noormah.riz@gmail.com
Ziyue Tian, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Environmental and resource economics, Ecological economics, Energy economics, Wildlife management, Agricultural nonpoint source pollution
References: Richard Horan (Chair), Alan Ker, Soren Anderson, Mark Skidmore
Job Market Paper: Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Greater Yellowstone Area Elk: The Effect of Environmental Transmission on an Endogenous
Host-Density Threshold
Email: tianziyu@msu.edu
Zhenglian Yang, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Agricultural Economics, Food Marketing
References: Vincenzina Caputo, James Sears, Tom Reardon, Brent Ross
Job Market Paper: Video Information Framing’s Impact on Consumers’ Mental Effort, Choices, and Beliefs: Evidence from Food-Choice Studies
Email: yangzh44@msu.edu
Shirel Ponnudurai, Master’s Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Food marketing and consumer behaviour
References: Vincenzina Caputo, Nicole Mason-Wardell
Email: ponnudur@msu.edu
Rubait Rahman, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Food and Agricultural Policy, Environment, and Health
References:
Job Market Paper:
Email: rahmanr3@msu.edu
Peyton Ellis, Ph.D. Candidate
Primary Research Focus: Agricultural Economics, Value Chain Analysis, Economic Development
References: Dr. Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie, Dr. Mywish Maredia, Dr. Nicole Mason-Wardell, & Dr. Brent Ross
Job Market Paper: Necessary but Not Sufficient: The Limitations of Empowerment Metrics in Predicting Agricultural Productivity
Email: spellis@msu.edu