Drs. J. Gordon Arbuckle, Amani Elobeid, Hongli Feng, and Jian Chen all received awards at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Spring Awards Program on March 11.
Reaching Regions, a new academic journal from Iowa State University, the North American Regional Science Council, and West Virginia University, has launched its first issue on the Iowa State University Digital Press.
Hongli Feng is a member of the team that won the 2025 Dean's Citation Award for their exemplary dedication to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The team was recognized for their work on the Agrivoltaics project.
Professor David Hennessy will have an article published in the forthcoming issue of Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Hennessy authored the article "Information as a catalyst for industrialization."
Professor Dermot Hayes published an article in the most recent issue of Nature Communications. Hayes authored the article "The optimum nitrogen fertilizer rate for maize in the US Midwest is increasing" with Emerson D. Nafziger of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Mitchell E. Baum, John E. Sawyer, Michael J. Castellano, Marshall D. McDaniel, Mark A. Licht, Matthew J. Helmers, and Sotirios V. Archontoulis, all of Iowa State University.
Assistant Professor Gil DePaula published an article in the most recent issue of Environment and Development Economics. DePaula authored the article "Comparing market instruments for forest conservation in Brazil using farm-level census data" with Leandro Veloso of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
A report co-authored by Professor Dermot Hayes and Jerome Dumortier, a CARD Faculty Collaborator and Professor at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, was cited in "The 2025 Economic Report of the President." Hayes and Dumortier were a part of the 68 subject matter experts from 13 academic research institutions across the nation that collaborated for more than two years on the Roads to Removal report.
Research Scientist Yongjie Ji received a grant from Cornell University for the research project "Developing Standardized Nonmarket Valuation and Benefits Transfer Methods Using Cellphone Location and Foot Traffic Data." Ji will work with Dr. Catherine Kling and Dr. Wendong Zhang, both of whom are former CARD faculty and now at Cornell University. The award is incrementally funded, with $16,655 awarded in the first budget period of 8/1/2024 to 7/31/2025. The grant could total up to $50,000 if funded for two additional years.
The Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) announced Professor Sergio Lence as a 2025 Fellow. The AAEA considers recognition as a Fellow to be its most prestigious honor.
Professor David Peters was interviewed by Radio Iowa for the article "Research finds big drop in service club membership in Iowa towns." The article details findings from the Iowa Small Town Poll, which found declining membership in fraternal organizations. Peters said "When we compare 1994 to our latest data, which was last year, we see that membership in fraternal organizations---these would be groups like the Kiwanis Club, the Lions Club, Optimists, Rotary, Moose Club…Masons and the Odd Fellows, we found that membership over the last 30 years has fallen by over two-thirds."
A recent study found that while concern about the negative impacts of climate change can reduce job satisfaction, farmers who have more resilient systems were more likely to report higher job satisfaction.
Assistant Professor Guilherme DePaula published in Land Economics. DePaula co-authored the article "The Trade-off between Yield and Nitrogen Pollution under Excessive Rainfall" with Eseul Choi of Economic Research Institute, Bank of Korea, Peter Kyveryga of Iowa State University, and Suzanne Fey of Iowa Soybean Association. The article incorporates the effects of excessive rainfall on corn yield and water pollution into a simple economic model for managing nitrogen. The findings indicate that both optimal nitrogen application rates and environmental damage increase with excessive rainfall; and, as the marginal product of nitrogen increases under excessive rainfall, the cost of controlling nitrogen pollution escalates.
Assistant Professor Irene Jacqz published in the most recent issue of Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. Jacqz co-authored the article "Electric Vehicle Subsidies and Urban Air Pollution Disparities" with Sarah Johnston of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The study examines the effects of federal, state, and local electric vehicle subsidy designs and finds that a neighborhood income-targeted policy achieves lower overall reductions in carbon emissions but higher reductions in criteria pollution (NOx and PM2.5) in lower-income neighborhoods.
Assistant Professor Rabail Chandio's project "Exploring a Digital Platform for Land Valuation and Agricultural Sustainability" received a $50,000 seed grant through the Digital and Precision Agriculture Applications Funding Opportunity offered through the Office of the Vice President for Research.
