D’Souza, Gerard

Professor Emeritus of Resource Economics and Management

D’Souza is an Adjunct Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at West Virginia University, where he has been for the last 30 years. He completed his Ph.D. at Mississippi State University. He teaches and advises students in agribusiness management. His research emphasizes sustainable development with an emphasis on the role of niche agricultural products within the context of natural, financial, and human capital development at various levels, from local to international.

In addition to also being a Faculty Research Associate at the Regional Research Institute, D’Souza was a Fulbright Scholar in Paraguay, a visiting scholar in Costa Rica and at the Wallace Institute, Greenbelt, MD, and had sabbatical appointments at universities in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

He co-developed a new energy-related undergraduate major, eQuad (Energy, Environment, Economics and Entrepreneurship), and has been the recipient of outstanding teaching and research awards at his institution and in professional societies.

D’Souza has been the PI or co-PI on grants totaling over $5 million from agencies including USDA; National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; USAID; and the Benedum Foundation. He has authored or co-authored around 150 scholarly works including books, book chapters and book reviews, journal articles, conference and working papers.

He is actively involved in international development activities, focusing mainly on Latin America. Most recently, he helped establish an academic exchange agreement between WVU and Universidad Nacional de Asuncion in Paraguay. He also has been an active member of honor societies including Gamma Sigma Delta and Sigma Xi, and professional associations such as the Northeastern Agricultural & Resource Economics Association, to which he was recently named a Fellow.

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