Presenter Biographies
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George
Frisvold
Dr. Frisvold joined the faculty in the
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of
Arizona in 1997. He has been a visiting scholar at the National Institute
of Rural Development in Hyderabad, India, a lecturer at The Johns Hopkins
University, and chief of the Resource and Environmental Policy Branch
of USDA’s Economic Research Service. His research interests include
domestic and international environmental policy, as well as the causes
and consequences of technological change in agriculture. In 1995–96,
Dr. Frisvold served on the Senior staff of the President’s Council
of Economic Advisers with responsibility for agricultural, natural resource,
and international trade issues. |
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David
Gang
David Gang has a Ph.D. in
plant physiology from Washington State University and also holds a bachelor’s
degree in botany-molecular biology. An associate professor of plant sciences
and Bio5 at the UA, he teaches biochemistry. Much of his research utilizes
aromatic plants (including sweet basil, ginger, and turmeric), and he
has interests in the chemical structure and properties of plants used
for medicinal purposes. |
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Robert
Innes
Robert Innes holds a Ph. D. from
the University of California, Berkeley. He is a professor in Agricultural
and Resource Economics at the UA. Innes has wide-ranging research interests
including agricultural policy, environmental economics, and law. His
work in agricultural and environmental policy has addressed issues from
livestock waste management, automobile regulation, soil depletion, the
design of crop insurance, and optimal commodity program structure, to
endangered species policy, safe drinking water, credit market policy,
antitrust regulation, and voluntary pollution reduction programs. Recent
research focuses on the economics of multi-product retailing, entry deterrence,
self-regulation, private politics, innovation in environmental technologies,
the economics of child adoption, editorial favoritism, and property law.
He has received numerous awards for publications and is a fellow of the
AAEA. |
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John Kai, Jr.
John Kai, Jr. grew up as a member of the Kai pioneering
farm family on a 4,000+ acre farm in Marana. As a businessman and farmer,
he promotes the use of effluent water for agriculture to conserve fresh
water and to haul sludge to fertilize farms. |
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Chieri
Kubota
Chieri Kubota was educated at Chiba University where she received
her Ph.D. in horticulture engineering. Dr. Kubota is a faculty member
of the Departments of Plant Sciences and Agricultural and Biosystems
Engineering. She is also a member of Bio5 Institute of Collaborative
Bioresearch. Her research interests include 1) manipulation of plant
growth and development by environmental control, 2) value-added plant
production under controlled environment, 3) long distance transportation
and low temperature storage of transplants, 4) physiology of grafted
seedlings for greenhouse crop production, and 5) photoautotrophic
micropropagation. |
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Pat Patton
Pat Patton is a senior research economist
in the Economic and Business Research Center at the University of Arizona.
He recently served as chief economist for Tucson Regional Economic
Opportunities, Inc. He has co-authored three books on the Tucson regional
economy, including: the 1996 Greater Tucson Strategic Economic Plan,
the 1998 Tucson/Pima County Industrial Directory and the 2000 Greater
Tucson Strategic Economic Plan. He has served as adjunct faculty or
staff at the University of Arizona, Texas Christian University, and
Texas A&M University. He
holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Texas
Tech University, an MBA in international management from Thunderbird,
and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University. |
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Jim Richards
Jim Richards is currently vice president at
Cornerstone Government Affairs. Prior to his current role, Jim served
as the chief of staff to for a U.S. Congressman, the director of the
Office of Intergovernmental Relations at the USDA, and as the appropriations
staffer for two chairmen of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture,
Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies. Prior to his government
service, Jim was general manager of a multi-million dollar wholesale
and retail business in New Mexico and a small business owner in Arizona.
Jim also served as an interrogator and intelligence specialist in the
U.S. Army with extensive experience throughout Southwest Asia. Jim grew
up on his family’s 5th generation cattle ranch in Southwest New
Mexico and attended New Mexico State University. |
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Robert
Shelton
Dr. Robert N. Shelton is the 19th president of the University of Arizona.
Previously, he was executive vice chancellor and provost for five years
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also served
as vice provost for research in the University of California Office of
the President, and as the vice chancellor for research at UC-Davis, where
he also was professor of physics. |
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Laurian
Unnevehr
Laurian J. Unnevehr is director of the Food Economics Division. Laurian
has published over 60 journal articles and book chapters on topics in
consumer demand and food policy as well as numerous other publications
and outreach reports. She is recognized for original contributions in
measuring the consumer benefits from agricultural research, the changing
structure of U.S. food demand, and the cost-benefit trade-offs in food
health regulation. With coauthors, she has received the American Agricultural
Economics Association (AAEA) awards for Quality of Communication and
for Publication of Enduring Quality, recognizing contributions in food
policy and food demand. Prior to coming to ERS to lead the Food Economics
Division, Laurian was on the faculty of the Department of Agricultural
and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(UIUC) from 1985 to 2008. On leave from UIUC from 1993 to 1995, she worked
at ERS on food safety issues and also served as the initial director
of the Food Economics Division. Prior to joining the UIUC faculty, she
was a Rockefeller Social Science Post-Doctoral Fellow at the International
Rice Research Institute in the Phillipines from 1982–1985. |
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Christopher
Wharton
Christopher
Wharton is an assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at Arizona
State University. His research interests include 1) food policy issues
at the local, state, and national levels that relate both to obesity
and to the sustainability of the food supply, 2) lifestyle factors related
to eating patterns and obesity, and 3) consumer skepticism towards weight
loss information in the media. He is involved in the American Dietetic
Association and has started a community supported agriculture (CSA) program
on the ASU campus.. |
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James
Woodson
James Woodson has been involved in international
agri-business and development since 1981. He is currently senior partner
in Woodson, Delgadillo & Jacques, a private partnership, and has
held that position for over 15 years. He also holds executive positions
in several related offshore entities whose prime business is the development
and operation of fresh and processed fruit and vegetable output, and
marketing systems which are characterized by profitability, efficiency
and adaptability. Operational production zones include Latin America,
Asia and Africa. Woodson has earned degrees in economics, foreign trade,
and international business. |
