CO-DIRECTORS

... Andrew M. Isserman
Andrew M. Isserman is Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. He has written extensively on quantitative methods for analyzing regional economic and demographic change and related public policy issues. His research has been funded repeatedly by the National Science Foundation, as well as the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, and Transportation and the Appalachian Regional Commission. It has contributed to several changes in federal policies and procedures.

... Edward Feser
Edward Feser is Professor and Interim Head of the Department of Urban & Regional Planning. His research focuses the growth, decline, economic adjustment, and industrial restructuring of cities and regions and the design and implementation of economic development policies. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States, as well as multiple state and local agencies. In 2003 he served as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Research and Strategic Planning in the North Carolina Department of Commerce.  He continues to work closely with state and local governments on issues related to his research and acts regularly as a consultant to the corporate sector, government, non-profit development agencies, and economic development planning firms.


GRADUATE STUDENTS

... Xia Feng
Xia is a PhD candidate in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Central South University of Technology in Changsha, China and a Master’s degree in Economics from South China Normal University in Guangzhou, China. Before she came to the U. S., she was an Assistant Professor in Guangdong Institute of Technology and Management. Her areas of research interest lie in regional economics modeling and policies, applications of spatial econometrics and spatial exploratory data analysis skills, and evaluation of economic impacts of sports facilities and franchises. Currently she is working on her thesis with Prof. Brad Humphreys which is examining the spatial economic impacts from sports stadiums and arenas on the residential property values in the surrounding areas.

... Joanna P. Ganning
Joanna P. Ganning is a PhD student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. Joanna earned her BS in Environmental Resource Management at Penn State University with Honors and Distinction in 2003. She earned a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning at Virginia Tech in 2005, with a focus on economic development. Joanna is currently researching amenity-based communities in Colorado with Professor Courtney Flint. Joanna's dissertation studies the relationship between regional spatial structure and regional economics, with a focus on rural development. Joanna currently serves as the
President of Doctoral Students in Urban Planning (DSUP).

... Timothy Green
Tim Green is a PhD student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He is conducting research with Prof. Edward Feser and Prof. Rob Olshansky on the economic effects of natural disasters and economic development planning. He earned a BA from Cornell University in 1998.

... Yusuke Kuwayama
Yusuke Kuwayama is a PhD student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. His research interests include environmental and natural resource economics, regional economics, and political economy. He holds a MS in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BA in economics from Amherst College. He is conducting research with Prof. Amy Ando.

... Sarah Low
Sarah Low is a PhD student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. Her research interests include entrepreneurship and innovation as economic development tools, GIS, and regional and rural economic/policy analysis. Other recent research focused developing regional asset indicators and fiscal impact analysis of job creation legislation. She holds a MS  in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and a BS in Public Service and Administration in Agriculture from Iowa State University. Sarah grew up in both rural Scotland and rural east central Iowa. She worked at the Center for the Study of Rural America, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, as a Research Associate prior to joining REAP.  Sarah Low's website

... Mallory Rahe
Mallory Rahe is a Masters student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. She earned a BS in agricultural and consumer economics, focusing on policy, international trade, and development, and was awarded the 2006 Warren K. Wessels Achievement Award by the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. In her masters studies she is focusing on stabilizing rural areas through technology, innovation, and other economic opportunities.

... Katherine Nesse
Kate Nesse is a PhD student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, studying regional economics. Her research interests include the economic effects of educational policy in non-urban areas and retirement migration and its impact on rural areas. She earned a BA from the University of Oregon and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Policy at the University of Minnesota.

... Cameron Speir
Cameron Speir is PhD student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics.  He received an MS in agricultural economics from Virginia Tech and a BA in biology and economics from McDaniel College. His research interests include environmental and natural resource economics, behavioral economics, and spatial analysis. His dissertation focuses on the behavior of fishermen in the Great Lakes, including information sharing among networks of commercial fishermen and  recreational anglers’ response to water quality information.

... Drake Warren
Drake Warren is a PhD student in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include the application and development of GIS, spatial data analysis, and econometric methods to regional and urban economics and spatial public policy evaluation. He holds an MA from Northwestern University and a BA from Rice University.

... Yu Xiao
Yu Xiao is a PhD student in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.  Her research interests include regional economics, economic impact analysis, and regional economic development policies. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Peking University in China and a Master of Urban Planning degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


ALUMNUS

... Todd BenDor
Todd BenDor is now an Assistant Professor of City and Regional
Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Faculty profile



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Regional Economics and Public Policy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
125 Mumford Hall, MC-710; 1301 Gregory Drive; Urbana, IL 61801-3605
217-244-1837