Ag Econ-O-Gram

Vol. 10, No. 5
March 7, 2008

AFRE FACULTY MEETINGS
The regular faculty meetings will be held in Room 75 Agriculture Hall, 1:30 pm as follows:  March 21; April 18.

Annual faculty meeting, May 14, Kellogg Center, Red Cedar Room.  The meeting begins with a light lunch at 12:00 noon. 

GSO BROWN BAG SERIES
11 Mar–  Prof. Sandra Batie
18 Mar – Dr. Songqing Jin
25 Mar – "Writing about Applied Economics for Professional Audiences" – Prof. Scott Swinton
11 Apr  - “Experimental Methods in the Context of Agriculture Economics”-  Prof. Rob Shupp
Brown bag seminars are in 75 Ag. Hall,12-1:00 p.m.

UPCOMING SEMINARS
March 18 – “Moctezuma Meets Gaia:  Challenges to Latin American Animal Agriculture,” by Robert Blake, Ph.D., Cornell University; 10:30 am in 1310 Anthony Hall.  For more info go to the Dept. of Animal Science:   http://www.ans.msu.edu/news/seminars.html

March 31 (Monday) - Kandeh Yumkella, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).  Kandeh was a faculty member in our department 1991-1996.  He will have a brown bag seminar and informal discussion on many of the economic development issues that UNIDO and the UN are facing; 12 noon in Rm. 75 Ag. Hall.  In addition, he will be presenting a seminar at the Kellogg Center the afternoon of March 31 (time to be determined). 

UPCOMING EVENTS
Wal-Mart on Sustainability - Thursday, March 13, 2008, the Food SCENE Research Project will be hosting its first forum at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center on sustainability and leadership at MSU. This event will kick off “The Food SCENE Dialogues: Supply Chain Enhancement for the New Economy,” a series focused on creating discussion among the scientific and business communities, and the public, about controversial and impactful technologies and approaches in the food supply chain. Janelle Kearsley, director of Corporate Strategy/ Sustainability for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will speak on “Business Sustainability: 21st Century Leadership.” Wal-Mart’s goals are straightforward: To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; to sell products that sustain our resources & the environment.

This event is free and open to the public. To register, visit Dialogues Registration. For more information, check out Food SCENE & Kearsley and Forum Flyer.

Renewable Energy Conference, Saturday, March 15, 2008.  Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, Hastings, Michigan

Colloquium on the Changing Professoriate March 19, 2008. www.educ.msu.edu/ericksonchair  to register online.

Sustainable Ag Conference. Kansas City, MO, March 25-27.  Travel by MSU van on Monday, March 24. Return Saturday, March 29.  Learn how SARE grant funding can help with on-farm and community initiatives.  Conference schedule: http://www.sare.org/2008Conference/index.htm
Cost for the trip is covered by SARE. Contact Tom Rorabaugh, (231) 592-0792, rorabau1@msu.edu.

Agriculture and Natural Resource Conservation and Management, April 17–19, 2008, at Delaware State University, Dover, DE : has extended the ABSTRACT DUE DATE to March 15, 2008  www.jemrest.org  or http://cars.desu.edu/symposium

PUBLICATION
J. Carolan, S. Joshi and B. Dale. "Technical and Financial Feasibility of Distributed Bioprocessing Using Regional Biomass Pre-Processing Centers," Journal of Agriculture and Food Industrial Organization, Vol 5:  Issue 2, article 10.

READING LIST
According to Google Scholar, the following article is getting some attention in the literature:  Baillie, R., and R. Myers, “Bivariate GARCH Estimation on the Optimal Commodity Futures Hedge.” J. Applied Econometrics 6(2): 109-124.  1991. 

NEW WEBSITE
Michigan State University and News/Talk 760 WJR Radio have launched a website called “Greening of the Great Lakes.” The goal of the website, located at www.greeningofthegreatlakes.com, is to provide information and insight into the organizations committed to making the Great Lakes region a leader in environmental practices. It’s designed to be an online resource for anyone interested in learning about the Great Lakes region, related environmental issues and ways that they can protect the environment.

CALL FOR PAPERS
International Symposium on Agricultural Research, August 28-31, 2008 in Agrinio, Greece.  http://www.atiner.gr/docs/Agriculture.htm

Management Track within WiCOM,  International Symposium on Information System & Management (ISM 2008) - CALL FOR PAPERS; http://www.wicom-meeting.org/ism/ .  October 14-16, 2008 in Dalian, China. 

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act
Deadline: March 23, 2008.  Sponsor: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  All proposals should focus on the restoration of fish and/or wildlife resources in the Great Lakes Basin.  www.fws.gov/midwest/fisheries/glfwra-grants/rfp2008.pdf

Consequences of Global Change for Water Quality
Deadline: May 8, 2008.  Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development (ORD), National Center for Environmental Research (NCER).  The EPA ORD NCER, in cooperation with the EPA Global Change Research Program, announces a competition for projects supporting research into the consequences of climate change for U.S. water quality to support human and aquatic life uses. http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2008/2008_star_gcwq.html#FUNDING

Energy Science & Technology
Deadline: April 14, 2008.  Sponsor: University Research Corridor (URC), Michigan State University (MSU), University of Michigan (UofM), Wayne State University (WSU).  MSU, UofM and WSU announce a funding opportunity of up to $900,000 for a maximum period of three years for full-time faculty in the above-listed URC institutions, focused on new research leading to revolutionary but feasible outcomes in alternative energy. Funded projects to be considered will include research in materials (including nanomaterials), clean energy sources, transmission and storage that is environmentally safe, cost-effective, and secure, and energy policy.   www.urcmich.org/commentary/urc_est_2008.pdf

See posted grant opportunities at Land Policy Institute’s website:   2007 Grants.

JOB OPPORTUNITIES (Details available from Pat Neumann for 30 days)

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY-EXTENSION
PO #1607 - St. Clair County Extension Director located in Port Huron, MI.  Deadline:  April 4, 2008.      http://www.msue.msu.edu/jobs

WORLD BANK - World Bank's Enterprise Analysis Unit is charged with management of the Enterprise Surveys  that links investment climate conditions to firm performance measures (e.g. firm-level productivity) in developing countries across the globe.  We are growing and we need more staff with a solid education in survey methodology.  Graduates please click here.

FORUM for AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA has five openings.  1) Deputy Exec Director; 2) Advocacy and Resource Mobilisation Director; 3) Program Officer—Capacity Strengthening; 4) Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist; 5) Technical Assistant to the Exec. Director.  March 31 deadline.  www.fara-africa.org

AFRICAN TRADE INSURANCE AGENCYseeks Chief Underwriting Officer (Nairobi).  Apply by March 16.  www.africa-eca.com/jobs.asp

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH CENTRE seeks Regional Director, Dakar.  Deadline is March 10.  www.idrc.ca/careers

ABU DHABI URBAN PLANNING COUNCIL seeks Head of Research.  Masters in land use economics or PhD.  Send CV and cover letter to careers@upc.gov.ae

SNV (NETHERLANDS DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION) seeks Deputy Regional Director, Latin America.  www.snvworld.org 

CRU CONSULTING GROUP seeks economists/econometricians and consultants.  www.crugroup.com/AboutCRU

DANIDA seeks Senior Advisor—Mali and Senior Micro financial advisor—Mali. www.danidajob.dk

THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA seeks applicants for fifteen positions.  Closing date is April 15.  www.theglobalfund.org

THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION seeks Managing Director, Southeast Asia and Associate Director, Health Systems, Bankok.  Email CV to hr1@rockfound.org by April 21.

CARE seeks country directors, regional directors, deputy regional directors, and assistant regional directors.  www.care.org

UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM seeks 1) Coordinator, Marine and Coastal Systems, 2) Regional Director, Africa.  www.unep.org

OXFAM seeks Regional Director, Latin American and Caribbean.  www.oxfam.org.uk/rdlacrec

GLOBAL FORUM FOR HEALTH RESEARCH seeks 1) Innovation specialis; 2) Resource flows officer; 3) Operations manager.  www.globalhealthforum.org

THE INTERAMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK seeks Fiscal and Municipal Management Specialists for posts in Washington DC, Suriname, El Salvador, Guyana, and Guatemala. Citizenship of IADB country required.   https://enet.iadb.org/jobs/vacancies.asp