Dr. John Bovay joined the ARE Department in August as Assistant Professor with 60% extension, 25% research, and 15% teaching responsibilities. We are excited to learn more about his extension and research interests.

• Can you share any prior Extension and outreach experience you have?
  • Engaging with farmers and the public through outreach and extension has always been one of my goals as an agricultural economist. I’ve spent the last 4½ years working at the University of California Agricultural Issues Center and the USDA Economic Research Service, both of which publish reports designed to reach a wide audience, including policy makers, farmers and agribusinesses, as well as hosting conferences. Below, I post some links to outreach publications I’ve written on food-safety regulations and the safety of imported food.
• What are your plans for your Extension program? Will this tie into your research, or past work?
  • I plan to create an Extension program that covers three broad topic areas. The first builds on my existing research on food labeling, food-safety regulations, and food loss/waste. Second, I will work with farmers to evaluate their on-farm energy production and use, and make sure that farmers are aware of all options and incentives available for energy conservation and generation. I expect to work closely with the green industry in this area. The third extension area will entail cost of production estimates for Connecticut farm commodities and marketing studies for local foods.
• What course will you be teaching in ARE?
  • I’m teaching a course on Sustainable Agribusiness Management this fall. My students will apply economic principles to analysis of issues faced by agribusiness managers, evaluate the sustainability of existing agribusinesses, and develop a sustainable plan of operation and marketing for template Connecticut farms.
• Anything else you want us to know?

I’ve been thrilled to discover that Connecticut has such a wealth of natural resources and open spaces to explore, including the state forests of the Last Green Valley and the UConn Forest (just a quick jog away from my office), the beaches at Bluff Point and Rocky Neck State Parks, and the magnificent Ray Tompkins Memorial Golf Course in New Haven.