AARES VIC Branch Event Friday 12 April 2024

Date

Time

5:00pm - 6:30pm

Venue

University of Melbourne, Lower Theatre, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences (Agriculture) Building 142

Speakers

         
 Professor Julian Alston              Professor Richard Gray

Julian Alston is a Distinguished Professor emeritus in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California, Davis, and Director of the Robert Mondavi Institute Centre for Wine Economics. Previously, he was the Chief Economist in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Victoria, Australia.  
Professor Alston was raised on the family farm in northern Victoria, Australia. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne; a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics from La Trobe University; and a PhD in Economics from North Carolina State University. 
Alston is an agricultural economist known for his work on the economics of agricultural and food policy.  Recent projects have emphasised science & technology policy and the economics of agricultural innovation; food & nutrition policy, and the global challenges of poverty, malnutrition, and obesity; and the economics of beer & wine.  He has written hundreds of academic journal articles and chapters related to these subjects, as well as numerous (co-authored) books. 
He is a Fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association, a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, a Distinguished Scholar of the Western Agricultural Economics Association, a Fellow of the American Association of Wine Economists, an Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists, and a Foreign Correspondent of the Italian Academy of Vine and Wine. 
He is also a dyed-in-the-wool (and currently very happy) Collingwood supporter.   

Richard Gray is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Saskatchewan and serves on the Board of Directors Canadian Agricultural Policy Institute. He has previously held the Canadian Grain Policy Chair at the University and has also served as Department Head and President of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society. He has published in the areas of agricultural trade, agricultural marketing, and environmental economics.
Over time, his research has increasingly focused on various aspects of agricultural research and innovation systems. Professor Gray has published 35 book chapters, 70 journal articles, and directly supervised more than 45 graduate students while participating in many more graduate committees. In 2010 he was recognised as a Fellow of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society.

Description

Topic: “Food versus Fuel: Economic and Policy Issues at the Interface of Agriculture with the Environment.”

Don't miss the opportunity to gain critical insights into the economics of food and environmental policy at the upcoming seminar featuring two distinguished agricultural economists: Professor Julian Alston (from the University of California, Davis) and Professor Richard Gray (from the University of Saskatchewan), hosted by the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES)—Victorian Branch. 
 
In this session, Professors Alston, and Gray, will lead a discussion of the “wicked” public policy problems at the nexus of food, health, natural resources, and the environment; the challenge of making sensible, effective, and economically efficient policy to address those problems; and the shortcomings of some attempts to do so, drawing primarily on North American examples.  They hope to engage with participants in a discussion of these issues as they arise in the current Australian and Victorian policy contexts, and possibilities for collaborative research.

Join us for drinks and nibblies afterwards at Naughtons Pub at 6:30pm.

This is a FREE event for members and non-members!

Register now to secure your spot!

Venue location map: