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WVU professor of resource economics and management to be recognized as 2018 ARER Fellow

Alan Collins, professor of resource economics and management
West Virginia University professor and researcher Alan Collins will be honored for his ongoing excellence in research by the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association by being named an ARER Fellow, the organization’s most prestigious recognition.

The NAREA, founded in 1981, is a professional association of more than 200 agricultural and resource economists with the primary purpose of promoting education and research in several related areas, including: economic and social issues related to the production, marketing and consumption of agricultural products; natural resource use; and the environment. 

The ARER Fellows award was established in 2012 to recognize “authors who have demonstrated sustained excellence in research and commitment to the association’s journal (Agricultural and Resource Economics Review).”

Collins, who also serves as assistant director of the Division of Resource Economics and Management in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, has authored or co-authored more than six peer-reviewed articles for the journal, having met the requirement to become a Fellow several years ago, according to ARER Managing Editor Dave Abler.


“It is an honor to be recognized for publishing in this journal,” Collins said. “I would like to acknowledge the contributions of my co-authors, most of whom were graduate students at WVU.”


The group of ARER Fellows represents less than one percent of the total number of authors who have published in the ARER or in the former NAREA journals.


“Beyond being an accomplished and prolific scholar, Alan is a most thoughtful, insightful and resourceful professional,” said Gerard D'Souza, director of the Division of Resource Economics and Management and 2014 ARER Fellow. “He is a true team-player who puts others first and, indeed, is at his best when it comes to fostering the success of others, be it students, faculty, or even the community.”


Collins has been promoting the success of his students and others in the WVU community since 1989, when he first joined the then-Division of Resource Management as an assistant professor. In addition to teaching, he has fulfilled the roles of undergraduate coordinator, program chair, graduate coordinator and assistant director of the Division.

Among his 105 publications include papers in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Ecological Economics, Energy Policy, Journal of Environmental Management and Journal of Spatial Analysis and Policy. Over the course of his career, Collins has been awarded more than $600,000 in grants and contracts as a principal and co-principal investigator and more than $2.6 million as a co-investigator. 



Prior to joining WVU, Collins served as a graduate research assistant and instructor, research associate and graduate research assistant at Oregon State University, University of Wyoming and Utah State University, respectively. He holds a doctorate in agricultural and resource economics from Oregon State, a master’s in range resource economics from Utah State and a bachelor’s in agriculture from University of Arizona.


Collins will be recognized during the 2018 NAREA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on Monday, June 11.




-WVU- 


nl/06/05/18

CONTACT: Nikky Luna
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design 
304-641-1135; Nikky.Luna@mail.wvu.edu