AV俱乐部

When looking back, the path that led me to AV俱乐部 looks somewhat circumvoluted.

After completing my聽Master in Psychology聽at the聽Universit茅聽Catholique de聽l鈥橭uest, in France, I moved to Utah, and completed my Ph.D. in Economics聽at聽Utah State University (USU).聽聽Interestingly enough, it聽is while taking a karate class that I met a fellow student who recommended I meet Dr. J. Keith, an Economics professor at USU, who later became my advisor. While completing my studies, I also taught French at the university level.聽聽

When the time came to work on my dissertation, my background in psychology proved to be quite useful to design, administer and analyze the results of a Contingent Valuation Survey on the costs of preserving habitat along the Garonne River, France.聽 I was very fortunate to meet Dr. B.聽Desaigues, a French researcher specializing in non-market valuation. I joined her and her team in Toulouse in 1996-1997. There, I worked with researchers from the聽Institut聽National de Recherche聽Agronomique聽(INRA) and Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).聽

Upon my return in Utah, I聽became Research Associate at聽the Early Intervention Research Institute (EIRI), an organization affiliated with Utah State University working on聽different聽projects related to population ageing, children with disabilities, child abuse and neglect.聽During my two years working at EIRI,聽I learned to write聽(and obtain)聽grants, and conduct economic analysis to聽these聽diverse projects. The one I most fondly remember is聽when, along with Dr聽V.聽Jump聽鈥� who聽specialized in early education and infant massage聽鈥� I聽worked on聽evaluating the cost effectiveness of an Ohio early childhood program to prevent child abuse and neglect.聽

In many ways, the different turns and twists of my professional life have followed the聽trials and tribulations聽of my personal life, and it is聽again聽for these reasons that I found myself accepting an assistant professor position in聽upstate New聽York,聽first at聽Clarkson University, then聽at聽St Lawrence University.聽

Joining AV俱乐部

Since I joined AV俱乐部 in 2010, I have met wonderful colleagues and interesting students. I greatly enjoy聽teaching, whether it be Introductory Economics, Environmental Economics, Writing, or International Trade.

My areas of research interests聽today聽lie in Environmental Economics, the nexus between Trade and the Environment, Urban Economics, and the Economics of Teaching.聽I聽typically聽like to focus on applied projects, whenever possible, related to Canada, Nova Scotia, or Halifax.聽For instance,聽Dr. M聽Akbulut-Yuksel聽and I are聽currently聽analyzing聽the impact of a green nudge聽policy in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) that was聽recently implemented in Halifax.聽Using administrative data聽and聽recognizing the interplay between psycho-social and economic contents of preference in environmental policies, we use a Regression Discontinuity (RD) design to measure the impact of the policy on recycling and overall MSW generation in our community (also funded by聽SSHRC Explore grant).聽Another project聽with Drs. T聽Iscan聽and Y.聽Kotlyarova, issued聽this time聽from a grant project funded by the Atlantic聽Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA),聽focuses on looking at service trade between Canadian provinces between 2007 and 2013.聽Finally, Dr. T. Cyrus and I have been working on modifying the design of how our introductory Economics classes are being聽taught,聽and聽we聽will be looking at the effectiveness of this redesign聽as measured by students鈥� learning and satisfaction.聽

Though it has been a winding road with many detours and side routes, travelling the path that has been my life has led me to AV俱乐部. To teach in this Department at this institution, sharing my knowledge and research with the next generation of economists that pass through our doors, has been an extraordinary privilege and the high point of my career.

At the risk of seeming rather kitschy,聽I would like to finish this聽reflection聽with something the Dalai Lama once said:聽鈥�Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.鈥�