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Announcements for Friday, January 6, 2012

News

  • Babcock analyzes recent expiration of ethanol tax credit on NPR

    Over the weekend, the multi-billion dollar subsidy for ethanol expired, which had been in place for more than 30 years. Bruce Babcock, the Cargill endowed chair of energy economics at Iowa State University, spoke to National Public Radio's Linda Wertheimer about the effects of the subsidy expiring on both the ethanol industry and consumers. Listen to the interview here.

  • Swenson discusses Iowa's economy and demographics on C-SPAN's Washington Journal

    Dave Swenson, associate scientist with the Department of Economics, spoke recently with C-SPAN's Washington Journal about the demographics of Iowa's population and the underpinnings of the economy which make it stand apart from other states. Listen to the interview here.

  • Weekly media connections for the Department of Economics
    • Mike Duffy spoke with representatives from the CBS Evening News, WHO TV, and the Daily from New York City, on land values and the impact on beginning farmers.
    • Chad Hart spoke with Matt Wilde of the Waterloo Courier, on factors shaping the corn and ethanol markets. He also spoke with Tim Hoskins of the Iowa Farmer Today, and Darrel Anderson of Successful Farming Radio, on factors shaping the corn and soybean markets.
    • Dave Swenson was interviewed by Alex Parker, a reporter with U.S. News and World Report, on the economic impact of the caucuses; and by Matt Wilde of the Waterloo Courier, who had questions about the contributions of the ethanol industry to the state's economy in 2011.
    • He also spoke with the following reporters over the holiday break about the Iowa economy and/or the economic impact of the Iowa caucuses: Fritz Faeber, Agence France Press; Ryan Foley, The Associated Press; Samuel Jacobs, Thompson Reuters; and Paul Blumenthal, Huffington Post. He spoke with Lee Rood, a reporter from The Des Moines Register, who asked him to look at state data on city use of tax increment financing debt to fund development.
    • Swenson was featured on C-Span discussing the demographics of Iowa and how the play into the state’s politics.
    • Swenson was also interviewed by both Nancy Marshall-Genzer, Public Radio International's "Marketplace," and Sarah McCammon, Iowa Public Radio, for a joint package on the economic impacts of the Iowa Caucuses; and Donnelle Eller, The Des Moines Register, on the new unemployment numbers for Iowa.

Graduate Student Announcements

  • NIST Professional Research Experience Program - Material Measurement Laboratory (PREP-MML)

    Professional Research Experience Program – Material Measurement Laboratory (PREPMML)

    http://www.nist.gov/mml/upload/2012-PREP-MML-FFO-FINAL.pdf

    Applications due April 13, 2012

    NIST anticipates funding one to three projects for up to three years, $100,000 to $500,000 per award per year

    Eligibility: Undergraduate and graduate students, who receive fellowships under the PREPMML must show evidence of a 3.0 or higher grade point average in a curriculum acceptable to the sponsoring educational institution and NIST/MML and must be enrolled full-time at a sponsoring institution. Post-doctoral associates must be affiliated with a sponsoring institution of higher education and be no more than 5 years beyond receiving their Ph.D.

    Description: NIST announces that the PREP-MML is soliciting applications for financial assistance from accredited institutions of higher education in the United States and its territories to enable those institutions to provide laboratory experiences and financial assistance to undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral associates in the MML at the NIST Laboratories in Gaithersburg, Maryland and Charleston, South Carolina.

    Objectives: To encourage the growth and progress of science and engineering in the United States by providing research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and post-doctoral associates, enabling them to collaborate with internationally known NIST scientists, exposing them to cutting-edge research. The PREP-MML will promote undergraduate and graduate students’ pursuit of degrees in science and engineering, and post-doctoral associates’ professional development in science and engineering. The PREP-MML Coordinator and NIST/MML scientists will coordinate with appropriate division chiefs, outreach coordinators, and directors of multi-disciplinary academic organizations to identify students and programs that would benefit from the PREP-MML experience. Applicants must be able to ensure the availability of students for on-site collaborative research experiences at the NIST/MML Laboratories in Gaithersburg, Maryland and/or Charleston, South Carolina concurrent with their institution of higher education studies. Refer to http://www.nist.gov/mml/ for more information about MML and areas of research.

    MML Topics

    See http://www.nist.gov/mml/ for topic areas (listed below) and associated subject areas that include agriculture, animal/crop improvement, environment, climate science, food safety and quality, nutrition, alternative energy, life sciences, etc.)

    • Bioscience and Health
    • Brookhaven National Laboratory
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics and Telecom
    • Energy
    • Environment
    • Hollings Marine Laboratory
    • Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research
    • International Activities
    • Materials Science
    • Measurement Standards
    • Nanotechnology
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Transportation

Conferences and Calls for Papers

  • National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute

    The National Bureau of Economic Research invites interested economists to submit papers to its 34th Annual Summer Institute which will be held in Cambridge, MA beginning in July, 2012

    The call for papers poster is attached. I hope you will post it in your department.

    The call for papers can also be found online at http://www.nber.org/callforpapers/CallSI2012.html

    If you have any questions, please contact Rob Shannon in the NBER's Conference Department at 617/588-0384 or rshannon@nber.org.

  • Association for Public Economic Theory - Taipei, June 2012

    More information available at: www.apet.org

Funding Opportunities

  • Women's and Diversity Grants Program

    The Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost is pleased to announce the Call for Proposals for the Women’s and Diversity Grants Program, which combines into one competition what were previously separate grant programs.

    Guidelines, application form, and timeline are available at: http://www.provost.iastate.edu/apad/grants.html. Deadline for submission of proposals is March 1, 2012.

  • Decadal and Regional Climate Prediction using Earth System Models (EaSM)

    More information available at:http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503399

  • Funding opportunity -- agricultural conservation, due January 31st, 2012

    More information available at:http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/cig

  • EPA Urban Waters small grants program

    The EPA Urban Waters Small Grants program allows one submission per institution. The VPR/ED’s office has had one expression of interest and will need to coordinate an internal competition if others are interested. Please ask CALS faculty who are interested in submitting a proposal for this program to contact Roxanne Clemens (rclemens@iastate.edu) by noon on January 9 so we can let the VPR/ED’s office know whether an internal competition will be needed.

    Please see http://www.epa.gov/urbanwaters/funding/index.html for more information. Proposals are due January 23, 2012.

  • Funding oppoprtunity - North Central RIPM grants program, due 2/29/12

    More information available at:http://www.csrees.usda.gov/fo/regionalintegratedpestmgtnorthcentral.cfm

Job Opportunities

  • North Dakota State University Assistant Professor, Biofuels

    More information available at: https://jobs.ndsu.edu/postings/1599

  • Full-time instructor position at Florida Atlantic University

    The Economics Department at Florida Atlantic University is seeking qualified candidates for a full-time, renewable Instructor position at the Boca Raton campus.

    As this is a full-time teaching position, consideration will be given to candidates with teaching experience, especially in a variety of field courses.

    Interested applicants must apply at the FAU website, http://jobs.fau.edu, position 980011, attaching a current curriculum vita. Candidates should also have three letters of reference sent to Search Committee, FAU, Department of Economics, B25, Room 137, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431. Applications should be received by January 3, 2012 but the position remains open until filled. Official transcripts are required upon employment. A background check is required for the candidate selected. This position is subject to funding. Individuals requiring accommodation please call 561-297-3221 (1-800-995-8771 TTY). FAU is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access institution.

Papers and Presentations

  • Recent papers and presentations by Wallace Huffman

    “Public Investments in Human Capital and Research,” FAO Technical Workshop on Policies for Promoting Investment in Agriculture, Rome, Italy, Dec. 12-13, 2011.

    Paper published: Huffman, W.E. “Household Production and the Demand for Food and Other Inputs.” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 36(Dec 2011):465-487.

  • Recent publication by Dave Swenson

    Research and assistance in support of the Foodsheds in the Upper Midwest Initiative to measure the economic impacts of increased local food production and consumption. Leopold Center publication available at: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/grants/m2009-07