Economics Masters student Ethan Tremblay’s research on the cooperation dynamics of cooperative purchasing in food buying clubs uses an agent based modeling approach to understand the importance of factors like group size, reciprocity, and cumulative experience of cooperation among members. Ethan presented a draft of this model at the 2016 UMaine Student Research Symposium, #USRS16. Check out the poster and a sneak peak at early results here. Tremblay_ABM_Poster.pdf
Ethan Tremblay
This week in Maine green is returning to the land, buds are growing, people are outside, and spring is in the air. It is a happy (if crazy) time of year. This year, I also have another reason to celebrate spring – a kid of professional spring that occurs in the life-cycle of an academic called Tenure.Not all of my pre-tenure career has been “winter,” but spring is here, and I’m grateful for it and for everyone who helped and encouraged and guided me to it.
bangordailynews.com/community/fifteen-umaine-faculty-members-receive-tenure-and-or-promotion/
A Happy Day!
Great news for the local food movement and industry, and for small farms across the state. The University of Maine System (UMS) just announced a new plan to purchase 20% of their food from local sources, which mostly means within Maine. This is likely to have a very positive impact on the Maine economy. The size of that impact is a relevant question. Although we cannot predict the economic impact perfectly, a review of the literature on the economic impact of local food purchases by consumers at farmers markets, and institutional local food procurement policies suggests that for every dollar the UMS spends on food from Maine another dollar of economic activity may be generated. Read a short summary of the research on this issue, here: Local Food Effects.
Sandra Goff earned a PhD in Ecology and Environmental Sciences with a specialization in Evolutionary and Behavioral Economics from the University of Maine on Saturday. Sandra’s research focuses on the intersection of environmental behavior, moral sentiments, and monetary mechanisms for sustaining natural resources. Sandra has accepted a tenure track faculty position at Skidmore College, starting in the fall of 2015.
Learn more about Sandra’s research at: SandraGoff.com
Dr. Sandra Goff and adviser Tim Waring
ACE Lab: Applied Cultural Evolution Laboratory 