Texas A&M System Facilities-Fort Worth

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

General Description:
The Department of Agricultural Economics is seeking two outstanding, agricultural economists that will have 100% research appointments to work with Agricultural Scientists throughout the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center network. The focus is on appraising economic issues with respect to Research innovations. This appointment will be 12 month, non-tenured, 100% Research, physically located at Texas A&M System facilities in Fort Worth, Texas. Incumbents will be initially housed at the Texas A&M University Law School then will move to a new Texas A&M System building on the Fort Worth Urban Campus. The academic appointment will be within the Agricultural Economics Department. The incumbent will be expected to lead a nationally prominent research program focused on economic evaluation of AgriLife Research innovations related to one or more of the areas: livestock, plants, agriculture-environment interactions, controlled environment agriculture, climate smart agriculture, production of carbon/greenhouse gas net emission reduction credits; and water/energy efficiency.

Position Responsibilities:
This position will be expected to develop an economic evaluation program that dovetails into collaborative programs with innovative developments arising from Texas A&M AgriLife faculty located at research and extension centers across the state.
• Must develop a research program on economic evaluation addressing research advances in one or more of the following focus areas
o Livestock
o Plants (field, fruit, and vegetable crops along with grasses)
o Agriculture-environment interactions
o Controlled environment agriculture (greenhouses, aquaculture)
o Climate smart agriculture practices for adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation
o Production of carbon/greenhouse gas net emission reduction credits
o Water and energy efficiency enhancements
• Must be able to conduct and report economic analyses addressing production, marketing, sustainability, and environmental impacts of research developments addressing issues in one or more of the focus areas
• Must participate on interdisciplinary teams with faculty in the AgriLife Research and Extension centers (see the list at https://agriliferesearch.tamu.edu/research-centers/) and where appropriate the Texas A&M University main campus and other system campuses
• Must be able to participate in efforts to compete aggressively for federal, state, commodity group, and other competitive funding in focus and related research areas
• Must publish research results in peer-reviewed journals
• Must support extension specialists in the AgriLife Research and Extension Center network in developing educational materials related to research evaluations and projected/realized outcomes
• Expected to develop working relationships with relevant industry, and commodity groups and where appropriate participate in industry and professional meetings
• Expected to serve on unit, department, agency, and university committees as appropriate
• Travel required to participate in meetings and conduct research programs plus support related outreach

Administrative Relationships:
The position reports to the Department Head in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University, College Station.
Qualifications:
• Ph.D. in agricultural economics, economics, or a related field
• Academic preparation and interest in economic evaluation of agricultural production and marketing developments along with environmental implications
• Demonstrated basic knowledge of cost benefit analysis, market analysis and environmental economic impact analysis as they relate to a subset of the above problem areas
• Ability and commitment to conduct production, market, and environmental economic evaluations.
• Commitment to working in an interdisciplinary team approach to cooperatively do economic evaluation of innovative research and report results in professional, industry, and extension contexts
• Capability in designing and conducting cooperative applied production, market, and environmental economic evaluation research on research innovations in an interdisciplinary setting
• Capable of participating in efforts securing external funding
• Capable of producing high quality scholarly publications
• Interpersonal skills to establish effective communication and working relationships with AgriLife research and extension scientists, staff, faculty, administration, and external contacts

Preferred Experience:
• Experience with practical economic evaluation regarding production, market, and environmental implications of research innovations developed by interdisciplinary teams
• Experience in reporting of such evaluations to diverse audiences
• Knowledge of issues associated with more than one of the focus areas
• Familiarity with Texas agricultural systems
• Exposure to community impact assessment

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
• Excellent English oral, written, and electronic communication skills
• Ability to use personal computer to communicate effectively, prepare proposals to include cost information on spreadsheets, provide reports of activities, do market and cost evaluations, quantitatively analyze production, market, and environmental data
• Ability to communicate effectively with the broader interdisciplinary group of AgriLife scientists, faculty, staff, and stakeholders
• Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.


Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer