Jude Bayham is an environmental and natural resource economist with research interests at the intersection of public policy, human health, and the natural environment. His research spans several topics including the economics of wildfire management, the impact of human behavior on infectious disease management, the impacts of air quality on society, and the economic impacts of outdoor recreation. Jude teaches courses at CSU on the economics of outdoor recreation, data-drive decision-making, and economic research methodology.

Sonali Diddi ‘s research focuses on Sustainable Clothing Production and Consumption. Her research-based, interdisciplinary and systems thinking-informed approach to addressing sustainability-related issues and problems in textiles and apparel industry recognizes the ever-changing dimensions of the discipline and an increasingly diverse and challenged society and global economy. Sonali constantly seeks out ways to engage with the local community to gain a sense of the broader relevance of her research in society. She is currently working to develop Colorado Fiber Systems Collaborative to map Colorado’s fiber related producers and businesses. She was an expert consultant for BBC Radio (UK), New York Academy of Sciences and invited international speaker for numerous events to share her research.

Dr. Gregory Graff’s research at CSU looks at the economics and public policy of technological innovation and entrepreneurship in the agricultural and food industries. His work analyzes the interrelationships among intellectual property rights, technology transfer, startups, venture capital, and other aspects of the innovation ecosystem. His regional economics work focuses on the formation and impact of regional high tech clusters on economic growth. Dr. Graff publishes in the economics literature as well as in leading scientific journals such as Science and Nature Biotechnology. At CSU, he teaches courses on the global agricultural and food system, agricultural policy, entrepreneurship, and the economics of technological change in agricultural production. Dr. Graff did his bachelors in Biological Sciences at Cornell University in 1992, his master’s at Ohio State University in 1995, and his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of California at Berkeley in 2002. Dr. Graff and his family own and operate Laughing Buck Farm on the outskirts of Fort Collins, Colorado.

Rebecca Hill is a Research Scientist with a joint appointment with the Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI) and the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. She currently teaches Water Law Policies and Institutions as well as Agricultural Marketing at CSU and her research interests revolve around issues connected to Community and Economic Development.

Dana Hoag is a native of Colorado and earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees at CSU. He has been a professor at CSU for about 30 years, where he is active in teaching, research and extension. Dr. Hoag specializes in issues where agriculture and the environment intersect. He provides analyses that offer information about how to reduce conflicts through management or policy. His focus is on water, soil and wildlife. He has published about 150 refereed journal articles and over 250 Extension publications. He teaches policy, ecosystem services in agriculture and environmental economics. He developed a book with website support on agricultural risk and computer decision aids for disease management in peaches, soil conservation, fertilizer use, farm and water contamination tradeoffs from pesticides, and nutrient trading. Dr. Hoag has served as an expert to the US Congress and for litigation in the Supreme Court involving water use conflicts between states. Many of his studies have required regional studies, such as how conservation easements affect sense of place, how irrigation restrictions might effect county economies, returns from CSU research, and the impact of wildlife refuges on local economies.

Becca Jablonski is the co-Director of the Food Systems Institute at Colorado State University and an Associate Professor and Food Systems Extension Economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Dr. Jablonski’s research and extension program is comprised of two primary components: 1) evaluating the farm and ranch profitability impacts of sales through non-commodity markets (e.g., local food markets, farm to school programs); and, 2) assessing the community economic impacts of food system policies, investments, and programs, including strategies focused on strengthening rural-urban linkages. As part of her position she co-leads CSU’s Food Systems Extension team. Dr. Jablonski holds a PhD from Cornell University.

Dr. Alexis R. Kennedy is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Administration at CSU. Her research focuses on public management topics including the interactions between public, private, and nonprofit organizations in the pursuit of public outcomes, community engaged research, and social equity. Her articles have appeared in Administration and Society, Review of Public Personnel Administration, and Journal of International Development. In addition to her academic work, Kennedy has worked as a practitioner in the energy industry in New Jersey and as a public finance consultant for nonprofit and public entities in Colorado.

Tim Komarek is an Associate Professor of Economics. He works in urban and regional economics, resource economics, and local public finance. His academic research has appeared in the Journal of Urban Economics, National Tax Journal, Regional Science and Urban Economics, among other outlets. It has spanned topics ranging from the local effects of fiscal austerity to place-based policies and regional entrepreneurship. Dr. Komarek received his PhD from Michigan State University in 2012. He previously worked as an Associate Professor at Old Dominion University and as a fellow at the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy.

Ray Miller is an Assistant Professor of Economics. He is also a faculty affiliate at the Colorado School of Public Health. His research investigates the determinants and consequences of health disparities and social inequality. Research interests include health and education policy, population aging, and the inequality of health and economic well-being among older populations. Dr. Miller received his doctorate in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2015. He previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and Research Fellow in the Program on the Global Demography of Aging, as well as for the American Institutes for Research, a behavioral and social science research and evaluation organization in Washington DC.

Susan M. Opp, PhD, is currently a Full Professor of Public Policy and Administration and Director of the Master of Public Policy and Administration (MPPA) program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She is also a Fulbright Scholar to Mauritius for 2021-2022 where she is studying economic development and sustainability on the island nation. Dr. Opp is a community engaged scholar that focuses on questions of local sustainability, economic development, and urban affairs in her research, teaching, and community service activities. Since receiving her Ph.D. in 2007 from the University of Louisville, Dr. Opp has served as the director of a NASPAA accredited MPA program, founder and director of the Masters in Public Policy and Administration (MPPA) graduate program, graduate programs coordinator for the MA and PhD in political science, internship director, and a variety of other public service related work. Her research has appeared in a number of academic and professional outlets including Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Urban Affairs, Economic Development Quarterly, and Local Environment, to name a few. She is also the author or editor of five books- including one printed as part of the ASPA series on public administration and policy in (2013). She had the distinct pleasure of being one of the inaugural APSA “Pracademic Fellows” at the Environmental Protection Agency working in the Office of Policy in 2016- thanks, in large part, to the efforts of Dr. Beryl Radin.

Dr. Anita Alves Pena is a Professor of Economics at Colorado State University. Her research is in public sector economics, labor economics, and economic development and she has particular interests in public policy, poverty, immigration, education/skill, and agricultural labor markets in Colorado and beyond. Dr. Pena received her Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University in 2007. She is a REDI Research Associate and one of the faculty leads for the Poverty Action Center (PAC@REDI). She also holds affiliations with the Colorado School of Public Health and with the High Plains Intermountain Center for Agricultural Health and Safety.

Phyllis Resnick is the Executive Director and Chief Economist at the Colorado Futures Center at Colorado State University. The Colorado Futures Center is a CSU affiliated 501c3 organization dedicated to informing about economic, fiscal and public policy issues impacting community economic health and quality of life. Phyllis leads the center’s work on macro/fiscal forecasting, the fiscal sustainability of state and local government, and the impacts of tax and expenditure limitations. She also supports the center’s expanded research portfolio focusing on all aspects of family economic security and community economic health.

Internationally, as a consultant and volunteer, Phyllis works in Southern and East Africa, the MENA countries and central Asia in the areas of fiscal forecasting, budget transparency/open budgets, and citizen involvement in the budget process. For her work in Africa, Phyllis was awarded 2015 Volunteer of the Year from the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance. Her MA and PhD are from the University of Colorado.

Alternative email contact: Phyllis.resnick@colostate.edu

Dr. Michael Seman is an assistant professor of arts management at Colorado State University. Michael’s work examines issues in the creative economy and focuses on how music ecosystems and regional growth intersect. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, CNN, and regional media outlets often seek Michael’s perspective and insights. His work is published in various academic journals, edited volumes, CityLab, and most recently by the Brookings Institution; he has also co-authored music strategies and creative economy reports for the City of Denver and the State of Colorado. Michael is currently writing a book about music venues and cities for the University of Texas Press. He previously managed daytime programming for two music festivals in Denton, Texas and spent several years as an internal marketing executive at Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills, California. He is represented by the Creative Class Group for speaking engagements.

Zachary Schaller is an applied microeconomist specializing in political economy, labor, and economic history. I am particularly interested in labor unions and industrial conflict, although I also enjoy thinking about regional labor markets and their interaction with general equilibrium market forces.

Patti Schmitt is the Community Development Director for the Office of Engagement and Extension at Colorado State University. In this role, she works closely with Colorado communities to address complex social, health, economic and safety challenges. Additionally, she is the Director of a unique leadership program called the Family Leadership Training Institute (FLTI) of Colorado at CSU Extension. FLTI is a community-based leadership program that utilizes an evidence-based curriculum to build community member capacity to be leaders in addressing local challenges in collaboration with content experts and decision makers. The mission of the FLTI Collaborative is to bridge the gap between decision makers and community members so that communities can better learn, plan and act together and targets community members who are often left out of community decision making process.

Andrew (Andy) Seidl, Ph.D. has been a CSU professor of environmental and development economics since before the invention of wifi, has taught courses and/or lived in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, England, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and Vietnam, and has travelled to about 80 countries. His work focuses on natural resource-based economic development and private (agricultural) lands conservation in Colorado and biodiversity finance and World Heritage tourism internationally.

Andy has worked with the Brazilian government in the Pantanal, International Union for Conservation of Nature, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Food and Agricultural Organization, and United Nations Development Program. He can hack his way through Spanish and Portuguese and can read French but really can only tell the best dad jokes in English. He enjoys losing at golf, soccer, and a good local IPA.

Dr, Wade Troxell is the recent past mayor of Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins is a 2017 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige Award which was recognized Fort Collins for an unceasing drive for innovation, leadership, and continuous improvement. He was first elected in April 2015 recently completed his third and final term. He is on the Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Master’s in Public Policy Administration faculties at Colorado State University (CSU).