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Announcements for Friday, June 10, 2011

Announcements

  • Recycling update: white paper

    White paper is recycled in the blue recycle bins that are located on each floor by the elevators. Please note the following acceptable and unacceptable items.

    Acceptable white paper (To test paper, tear and if inside is white, OK to recycle in blue bins):

    • Computer paper
    • Printer/copier/fax paper
    • White tablet paper
    • Color printed material
    • Card stock
    • White envelopes (no plastic window or labels)
    • Staples OK - do not have to remove

    Unacceptable paper:

    • colored or off-white paper
    • ground wood paper (green bar)
    • paper ream wrappers
    • address labels/stickers
    • manila folders/cardboard
    • carbon paper/NCR paper
    • newspaper/newsprint
    • magazine/slick paper
    • phonebooks
    • blueprints
    • glue binding/tape
    • food related paper
    • plastic of any kind
    • paper clips

    FInd more information on ISU recycling at: http://www.fpm.iastate.edu/recycling/WhitePaper.asp

News

  • Singerman moves on to domestic rice industry work in San Francisco Bay area

    Ariel Singerman is one of several graduate students who will soon complete their course of studies in the Department of Economics. Learn what he has planned after his exit in August.

    What degree did you complete? I completed a Ph.D. in Economics with emphasis in Agricultural Economics. In my dissertation I applied econometric and numerical methods to analyze key elements for the insurance of organic crops, namely, prices, yields and revenue; in an effort to contribute to the design of an organic crop insurance policy under which organic producers would receive coverage according to their idiosyncratic risks rather than based on their conventional counterparts.

    I defended my dissertation last week, but the official date for graduation during the summer is August.

    What are your plans after you leave ISU? I got a job in a company located in the San Francisco Bay area that specializes in the domestic rice market. It offers purchasing, market analysis, and consulting services to its clients.

    What's exciting or interesting to you about this next step in your career? This opportunity is exciting because it will give me the chance to apply the knowledge and training I acquired in school to the everyday dynamics of the rice market.

    What was one of the most valuable things you learned from the Department of Economics at ISU? Perhaps the most valuable thing I learned during grad school is that perseverance is a virtue whose importance cannot be overstated. It is what will take you to the end when everything else seems to fail.

  • Weekly media connections for the Department of Economics

    Information courtesy of Jackie King, ISU News Service.

    • Associate scientist in economics Dave Swenson was interviewed by Jason Clayworth, a reporter from The Des Moines Register, who had questions about the scope and consequences to state government activity were there a shutdown if the current budget impasse holds through the fiscal year end. Swenson also referred him to the 2005 Minnesota experience under than Gov. Tim Pawlenty where there was a nine-day shutdown.
    • Chad Hart, assistant professor of economics and grain markets specialist, spoke with Alan Bjerga of Bloomberg News about soybean prices and Chinese demand.
    • Hart also had several other contacts. Kris Debins, Reuters, asked about crop markets, prevented planting, and crop insurance. John Pocock, Corn and Soybean Digest, wanted information on ethanol outlook and policy. And Tim Hoskins, Iowa Farmer Today, had questions about crop plantings, flooding, and crop marketing.
    • Dermot Hayes, professor of economics and of finance, spoke with William Petroski of the Des Moines Register about the benefits of international trade missions such as the ongoing one state leaders are conducting in South Korea. 

    Links to the following articles are available at:http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/mr/11/0603/0603.shtml

    • Ethanol Saving Travelers Millions this Holiday Weekend,; Kansas Farmer, KS , 05-27-11 (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University); Also ran: American Agriculturist, IA, California Farmer, CA, Dakota Farmer, SD, Indiana Prairie Farmer, IN, Michigan Farmer, MI, Mid-South Farmer, IA, Missouri Ruralist, MO, Ohio Farmer, OH, Prairie Farmer, IA, The Farmer, IA, The Farmer-Stockman, IA, Wallaces Farmer, IA, Western Farmer-Stockman, IA, Wisconsin Agriculturist, WI,
    • Wisconsin Corn Growers Association says that without ethanol, gas would cost 15 percent more; PolitiFact Wisconsin, WI , 05-29-11 (Bruce Babcock, Professor of Economics, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University)
    • US will save $440M on Memorial Day weekend due to ethanol, says RFA; Biofuels Digest, FL , 05-30-11 (Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University)
    • Retail Food Price Increases Expected To Continue; Vending Marketwatch.com, WI , 05-31-11 (Chad Hart, Assistant Professor of Economics, Iowa State University)

Conferences and Calls for Papers

  • Call for Abstracts: Heartland Environmental and Resource Economics Workshop 2011

    Saturday October 22 – Sunday 23, 2011, Deadline for Abstract Submissions: August 8, 2011; See the Heartland@Illinois website at http://events.idtg.illinois.edu/here/

Funding Opportunities

  • USDA Scientific Cooperation Research Program

    http://www.fas.usda.gov/icd/scrp/, Application Deadline: July 5, 2011, $45,000 over two years

    The Scientific Cooperation Research Program supports joint research, extension, and education projects—lasting up to two years—among domestic and international agricultural professionals. These projects address issues including agricultural trade and market access, animal and plant health, biotechnology, food safety and security, and sustainable natural resource management in the United States and internationally.

    The objective of SCRP is to reduce global poverty and hunger by supporting applied scientific research, extension, or education projects that aim to address challenges faced by smallholder farmers in emerging economies. The definition of smallholders differs between countries and agro-ecological zones. For the purposes of this announcement smallholders, as defined by the World Bank, are farmers that own or lease less than 124 acres of land (less than 50 hectares). This land must be used to support subsistence or cash crop farming.

    All proposals should address one of the three focus areas: improving agricultural productivity, creating sustainable agricultural systems, or building regional or global trade capacities. All proposals should also utilize the scientific communities’ accumulated knowledge and technologies to help aid in developing “practical” solutions to these challenges. All proposals must include foreign collaborations and may not exceed two years. Funding may be allocated to foreign collaborators through sub-awards. All proposals must match at least 25% of the requested funds; third party cost sharing is allowed.

  • EPA School Integrated Pest Management Grants

    PURPOSE: to identify and reduce risks associated with pesticide use in buildings and on grounds around kindergarten to 12th grade public and tribal schools in the U.S.

    Projects can be research, development, monitoring, public education, training, demonstrations, or studies on the adoption of verifable integated pest management (IPM) by the nation’s kindergarten to 12th grade public and tribal schools. “Verifiable school IPM” is an ongoing activity that includes all documented elements: understanding pests; setting action thresholds for key pests (knowing when to take action against key pests): monitoring for pests, their locations and populations; removing conditions that allow pest infestation; and using one or more effective pest control methods including sanitation, structural maintenance, and nonchemical methods in place of or in combination with pesticides. Proposed projects must have measurable outcomes. Projects are expected to range from $50,000 to $250,000 and are limited to 2 years in length. Matching funds are not required. See the guidelines for more information:

    http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/; DEADLINE: July 18, 2011

Job Opportunities

  • Seeking Economics instructor for dynamic AP curriculum in China

    Seeking Economics instructor for dynamic AP curriculum in China, at a leading public high school in Shenzhen, for the position of AP Economics instructor for AY11-12.

     Duties include teaching two 45 minute classes/day Monday through Thursday, overseeing a 45-minute Friday study period, office hours, advising 10-12 students planning to attend college in the US, and other school activities totaling at least 40 hours/week. Preference will be given to candidates who would eventually be able to teach one economics and one statistics class instead of two economics classes/day.

    The instructor will join an existing team of local and American instructors expanding the international curriculum at the school. It is hoped that the instructor can begin in early to mid August 2011 to prepare for the new school year, which begins in September. The initial contract will be for 10 months; if the school and instructor are satisfied with the relationship, subsequent contracts will be 12 months in length and will include one month of paid vacation.

    Compensation includes on-campus housing, a work visa, and 15-20k Chinese yuan/month (USD$2,300-3,000). Average local salaries are about 1/10th this range; American instructors can live well on this salary in China.

    This job is in an exciting environment: one of China's largest and fastest-moving cities, the city's best public high school, building a program that helps excited Chinese children and their parents realize their dreams of going to college in the United States. This is an excellent opportunity to understand China's present and future while teaching high school students hungry for your expertise.

    Interested individuals please send a resume to Patrick McAloon at patrick.mcaloon@sinoconnect.com.