West Virginia Universitys research program in agricultural and resource economics has been ranked eighth in the nation among similar programs according to a Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index generated by Academic Analytics and published exclusively in the Jan. 12 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The index rates faculty members’scholarly output at nearly 7,300 doctoral programs around the country. It examines the number of book and journal articles published by each program’s faculty, as well as journal citations, awards, honors and grants received.

Interdisciplinary and collaborative research is a strength of the Agricultural and Resource Economics program,said Alan Collins, associate professor and chair.Several on-going, interdisciplinary research projects are aimed at examining the role of niche products in enhancing farm income, reducing risk and diversifying income sources.

Examples of such products include aquaculture, pasture-raised beef and organic foods.

These projects are undertaken by agricultural and resource economists in collaboration with other disciplines such as plant sciences, animal sciences, nutrition and recreation at WVU and other institutions in the region,Collins said.

In addition to enhancing producer income, increased adoption of niche products has the potential to increase availability of high-demand local foods, and contribute to statewide economic development.

Faculty have been actively involved in research areas such as finding alternative approaches to carbon management; the empirical analyses of quality of life, income distribution and rural development and the role of small business in rural economic development in West Virginia; and valuation of water quality improvements for West Virginia streams and rivers.

One example of how this valuation research has been used to benefit citizens is that information from a valuation study on Deckers Creek was used to help convince the Morgantown City Council to provide financial assistance to the cleanup of this polluted creek.

The programs research agenda is continuously evolving to embrace new technologies and markets.

One relatively recent development integrates geographic information systems and other spatial analysis methods to study the effects location and spatial relationships on economic forces,Collins said.

While this work has focused on natural resource and environmental management questions, other efforts deal with economic development, marketing and extension programs.

A second major thrust focuses on energy. While the program has a long history of research related to the environmental impacts of energy use, recent efforts have broadened into studies of the power sector including transmission, efficiency and generation.

The program has a strong international presence related to coal utilization. Working with the Shenhua Group in China with support from the U.S. and Chinese governments through Annex II of the US-China Clean Energy Protocol, faculty within the Natural Resource Analysis Center are studying the impacts on coal liquefaction technologies on the environment and the economy.

The program in agricultural economics has achieved a high level of performance because everyone contributes,said Peter Schaeffer, former director of the Division of Resource Management in WVU s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences and professor of agricultural and resource economics.We have some faculty who are particularly strong in obtaining grants, and some free up the time of other faculty by taking on more teaching. But all faculty publish, and over the last ten years, all faculty members have had external grant support. In a small program, such balance is important if we want to sustain a strong performance.

As pleased as Schaeffer is with the rankings, he noted a more important gauge of the programs effectivenesssuccessful alumni.

The placement of a student in the extraordinarily competitive Young Professionals Program of the World Bank a few years ago, in particular, signaled that we educated graduates who could compete successfully,Schaeffer said.Last year we placed a graduate in a position of Office the Chief Economist of the USDA , which is another plum assignment for a newly minted doctoral degree recipient. Another graduate, James Bukenya, was awarded the B.D. Mayberry Young Research Scientist Award, which is given once a year to a particularly promising young scholar at a traditionally black land grant institution.

Bukenya has generated some$1.5 million in grants and has authored or co-authored 18 articles in refereed publications. He received his doctorate from WVU in 2001.

Collins agrees that the research and teaching functions of the program work in concert to promote student success.

Our faculty research efforts enhance classroom experiences of both undergraduate and graduate students,Collins said.We recruit outstanding graduate and undergraduate students to assist us, building their research-related skills in the process. Our students, in turn, use this experience as a stepping stone to further their education at WVU or elsewhere, or take on leadership/management positions in the private and public sectors. Research is a collaborative effort between students and faculty.

This is the second national research ranking earned by Davis College faculty in recent months. The Colleges Division of Forestry and Natural Resources has been ranked first in the nation in research publications per faculty in a recent survey conducted by the Journal of Forestry.