FRE 603 Advanced Food and Resource Economics

What is the best use of renewable and non-renewable resources from society’s perspective? How much fish should we harvest now, and how much should we leave in the oceans to grow and reproduce? How much old-growth forest or fossil fuels should we preserve for future generations? How does the outcome change when we consider equity or climate change? After this course, you will be able to answer these questions.

We will first introduce the mathematical tools for resource economics. We then use these tools to derive the fundamental results in resource economics. Finally, we take the results to the data to see how they can help us to understand the real world.

In addition to those technical skills, you will learn about the frontiers of research in resource economics, how to present economic research, and how to write referee reports and proposals.

The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:30 pm in ORCH-Floor 4-Room 4068.

Please send me an email if you have difficulties registering for this class. I am happy to help you: frederik.noack@ubc.ca

FRE 603: Advanced Food and Resource Economics
Syllabus
Frederik Noack
Office: McMl 331
Email: frederik.noack@ubc.ca
UBC, Fall 2024
UBC’s Point Grey Campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
Please email me if you can’t register for this class.

Course Description
What is the best use of renewable and non-renewable resources from society’s perspective? Why are the farmer’s choices not necessarily desirable from society’s perspective? How much fish should we harvest now, and how much should we leave in the oceans to grow and reproduce? How much oil should we use now, and how much should we leave for the future? Should our decisions change if we consider our impact on the climate system? After this course, you will be able to answer these questions. To do so, I will first introduce the fundamental mathematical tools for static and dynamic optimization. We then discuss how these tools are used to derive the most important results in resource economics. Finally, we will apply these tools to environmental and resource problems to formulate policies that ensure optimal use from a societal perspective. Although the course will cover resource use and dynamic environmental problems, including climate change, more broadly, it focuses specifically on the use and conservation of renewable resources in developing countries including agriculture, forests, biodiversity, and fisheries. Further, it focuses on the theory of food and resource economics and how it motivates and guides current empirical approaches in this field.

Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, you will be able to

• Describe the decision problem of farmers and resource harvesters using mathematical models.
• Define the optimal use of renewable and non-renewable resources such as forests, fisheries, and fossil fuels from society’s perspective.
• Formulate efficient policies for static and dynamic environmental problems such as deforestation and overfishing.
• Formulate, solve, and visualize mathematical problems in the programming language R.
• Critically assess current research in food and resource economics.

5. Difference and differential equations
Introduction to dynamics in continuous and discrete time, steady states, and the concept of stability.
6. Dynamic optimization
Optimal control and dynamic programming.
7. Non-renewable resources and the Hotelling model
Optimal extraction of non-renewable resources with and without externalities.
8. Renewable resources and bioeconomic models
Optimal fish harvest with and without discounting, optimal timing of harvesting a stand of trees.
9. Food and resource economics policies
Taxes and quota.
10. From theory to empirics
Testing theoretical predictions empirically.

Section 2

11. Agriculture and the environment
• Foster, A. D., & Rosenzweig, M. R. (1995). Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and Technical Change in Agriculture. Journal of Political Economy, 103(6), 1176-1209.
• Karlan, D., Osei, R., Osei-Akoto, I., & Udry, C. (2014). Agricultural decisions after relaxing credit and risk constraints. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(2), 597-652.
• Taylor, C. A. (2024). Cicadian Rhythm: Insecticides, Infant Health and Long-term Outcomes. Working Paper.
12. Biodiversity conservation
• Weitzman, M. L. (1998). The Noah’s Ark Problem. Econometrica, 1279-1298.
• Frank, E., & Sudarshan, A. (2024). The social costs of keystone species collapse: Evidence from the decline of vultures in India. American Economic Review.
13. Forestry and deforestation
• Hartman, R. (1976). The Harvesting Decision When a Standing Forest Has Value. Economic Inquiry, 14(1), 52-58.
• Souza-Rodrigues, E. (2019). Deforestation in the Amazon: A unified framework for estimation and policy analysis. The Review of Economic Studies, 86(6), 2713-2744.
14. Fisheries
• Sanchirico, J. N., & Wilen, J. E. (2001). A bioeconomic model of marine reserve creation. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 42(3), 257-276.
• Noack, F., & Costello, C. (2024). Credit markets, property rights, and the commons. Journal of Political Economy, 132(7), 000-000.
15. Economic development and the environment
• Harstad, B., & Mideksa, T. K. (2017). Conservation contracts and political regimes. The Review of Economic Studies, 84(4), 1708-1734.
• Burgess, R., Hansen, M., Olken, B. A., Potapov, P., & Sieber, S. (2012). The political economy of deforestation in the tropics. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(4), 1707-1754.

Hello grads,

We are looking for TA for BIOL351 Plant Physiology I for Term 1 2024W.

You can take a look at the general description of the TA position here:

https://biologyprogram.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2024/04/2024W-TA-job-description_2024Mar19.pdf

 

If you are interested, please put in an application: https://zoology.ubc.ca/biolta/2024W/

And indicate BIOL351 as your preferred course choice in Term 1.

 

Thank you and please reach out if you have any questions!

Biology TAship Team

 

—-

Gigi Lau PhD
Biology Program Manager
Faculty of Science | Departments of Zoology and Botany
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory
6270 University Boulevard Biological Sciences Building | Vancouver British Columbia | V6T 1Z4 Canada
Phone 604 822 3367
gigi.lau@ubc.ca

The UBC Vancouver campus is situated within the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam).

 

Dear LFS graduate students,

Please review the Dean pro tem announcement attached from Gage Averill, Provost and Vice-President Academic, UBC Vancouver.

 

Rebecca Lee

Dean’s Office Coordinator | Faculty of Land and Food Systems

The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory

248-2357 Main Mall | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z4 Canada

Phone 604.822.1219 | Fax 604.822.6394

Dean.landfood@ubc.ca | @ubcLFS
www.landfood.ubc.ca | www.facebook.com/ubcLFS

 

MEMORANDUM

August 26, 2024

To: All members of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems – faculty, staff, students, and
postdoctoral fellows (distributed via the Dean’s office)

From: Gage Averill, Provost and Vice-President Academic, UBC Vancouver

Re: Appointment of Dr. David Kitts as Dean pro tem, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. David Kitts as Dean pro tem of the Faculty of  Land and Food Systems, effective October 1, 2024.

Dr. Kitts is a food scientist who has served as the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems since 2012, and prior to that as Director for the Food, Nutrition and Health Program. His research is transdisciplinary, spanning food science, nutrition/dietetics, biochemistry and molecular biology. Over the past 40 years, he has contributed to the body of knowledge related to food chemistry, food toxicology and nutritional sciences, helping UBC grow to become a well-respected institution in food science.

A major area of recent focus for Dr. Kitts is investigating how bioactive components contribute to intestinal health, including how plant/animal-derived bioactives (e.g., extra nutrients) serve as important mediators of specific cellular and molecular responses that protect against intestinal oxidation-reduction (redox) imbalances. In addition, he investigates stabilizing food formulations and characterizing antioxidant capacities of various food components that can mitigate losses in food quality and safety.

As Associate Dean of Research, Dr. Kitts has been involved with colleagues in launching the new Food and Beverage Innovation Centre. Scheduled to open later this year, this will be the first centre in BC dedicated to ensuring food and beverage processors become more competitive globally by supporting industry training, and ensuring researchers and businesses collaborate to develop innovative and sustainable products, processing techniques, and packaging.

I am grateful to Dr. Kitts for his willingness to lead the Faculty while the search for the next Dean continues.

Dr. Rickey Yada’s term as Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems will conclude on
September 30, 2024. Dr. Yada’s accomplishments during his term are many, with notable
successes in research, education and community engagement. Faculty highlights include the rollout of two multi-year strategic plans; unprecedented growth in research funding; the introduction of professional and certificate programs in the food and nutrition fields; and, supporting Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Indigeneity initiatives, including the creation of two new EDI.I positions. In addition, Dr. Yada was instrumental in initiating three major capital projects that balance community and economic needs – the new Food and Beverage Innovation Centre; a new building for teaching, research and community events at UBC Farm; and major renovations and upgrades at the UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre in Agassiz, BC.

His next role involves a move to the University of Alberta where he will become Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences. I am grateful for Dr. Yada’s leadership at UBC over the past 10 years and wish him much success in his new endeavours.

We will have an update in the coming months regarding next steps in the Dean search.

Opportunity for a Masters in Soil Science position supervised by AAFC-Agassiz and co-supervised by JT Cornelis!

Topic: Soil Carbon Stabilization of Longterm Manure Trials.

Hiring Manager: Derek Hunt  – derek.hunt@agr.gc.ca

Location: Agassiz Research and Development Centre (Ag-RDC), Science and Technology Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Position title: MSc Student – Research Affiliate Program

Salary/Stipend/Bursary: 24.62$ to 30.99$ per hour. (Annual Stipend of 30,00$ which includes rates of pay. Salary is determined by the student’s education and relevant experience.

Hours per week: 24.

Projected start date: January 3rd 2025.

Projected end date: December 31st 2027.

More info:

The successful candidate will measure the effect of nutrient management and cropping practices soil carbon in three long-term dairy trials. The work will involve field sampling at Ag-RDC and lab work at Ag-RDC and UBC-Vancouver; to conduct this work, physical presence at both locations is a necessity.
The successful candidate must register or be registered in a Master’s program in Soil Science at the Vancouver, BC, campus of the University of British Columbia because they will be co-supervised by Dr. Derek Hunt (Agassiz-RDC) and Dr. J.T. Cornelis (UBC-Vancouver).
The successful candidate must possess a Bachelor of Science from a recognized university (National and/or International) and register/be registered in a graduate program at UBC-Vancouver. Preference will be given to Canadian citizens, followed by permanent residents. If no suitable candidate is found, international students will be considered.
The RAP position will be advertised externally as a part-time position.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of science around climate change and climate change mitigation
• Knowledge of greenhouse gas dynamics in agricultural production systems
• Knowledge of soil science and environmental science
• Knowledge of agriculture practices and implications on environmental quality is an asset
Abilities
• Ability to communicate comfortably (orally and written)
• Ability to process data, present and interpret results in graphical format (e.g., Excel, Sigmaplot, R)
• Ability and willingness to work in laboratory, greenhouse and/or field environments for extended periods of time.
• Ability and willingness to control allergies, through the use of personal protective equipment and/or medication without impinging on the duties to be performed
• Ability and willingness to work in two locations: Agassiz Research and Development Centre and University of British Columbia – Vancouver.

Duties: RECOMMENDED

The successful candidate will leverage three long-term research trials (maintained at AAFC RDCs) exploring the effects of nutrient management, alternative cropping and advanced production practices in dairy systems on soil carbon dynamic and storage. Increased soil organic carbon storage is widely seen as a promising climate change mitigation strategy but more work is required to understand the stability of cycling of soil organic carbon in dairy production systems. The work will involve collecting and processing soil and soil solution samples and fractionating the soil samples into pools of increasing stability. These data will be used to identify best management practices to supporting climate change mitigation on-farm. Additional duties will include:

• Compile measurement data into clear and organized datasets

• Analyse data from above; present results in manuscript(s) for publication in peer-reviewed journal(s) Fulfill any requirements to complete MSc at UBC-V, including taking courses, participating in seminar and committee meetings, and writing and defending MSc thesis.