The Sustainability Institute's Elena Irwin, faculty director, and Joyce Chen, an affiliate faculty, have been elected to posts with the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association.
Irwin (left photo, above), a professor of environmental economics in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, has been elected to the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association's board of directors. Her research addresses the sustainability of human-natural systems at local and regional scales, with a focus on land use, ecosystem services and integrated models of land-water systems. As faculty director of SI, Irwin develops and nurtures the institute's academic activities including interdisciplinary research programs and sustainability curriculum development across natural, physical and social sciences, engineering, public health, planning and policy, and the humanities.
AAEA is a professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health and international development.
Chen (right photo, above), an associate professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics, is chair-elect of the Committee of Women in Agricultural Economics of AAEA, which promotes the welfare of women and other underrepresented groups in agricultural economics. She is a development economist with research interests in development and labor economics, specifically migration, household bargaining and human capital. Her research focuses on the complex relationships between migration, climate change, economic development, and the intra-household allocation of resources.