Welcome to the Department of Applied Economics!
Our faculty and students study how people and businesses make choices that sustain our natural environment while improving the well-being of everyone in society. We study land use, farms and agribusiness, water resources, climate change, wildfire, marine and coastal ecosystems, biodiversity, farm labor, demand for Oregon products, international development, and much more.
We train the next generation of leaders by way of two undergraduate majors: Agricultural and Food Business Management and Environmental Economics and Policy. Students in our majors benefit from small class sizes and close interaction with professors. All students get a hands-on learning opportunity to do research, have an internship, or design their own experiential learning project.
We run an excellent graduate program in applied economics. Our graduate students specialize in environmental and resource economics, including its overlap with agricultural issues and international development. Since 1935, hundreds of our PhD and MS graduates have gone on to have distinguished careers all over the world.
Through extension and outreach, our faculty are responsive to the needs of stakeholders in Oregon and beyond: citizens, farmers, conservation groups, businesses, and policymakers.
I invite you to engage with us as we study the big issues confronting society. Let’s find solutions that generate prosperity for all people while ensuring that we sustain our food system, environment, and natural resources.
Jeff Reimer
Applied Economics Department Head