Bringing Together Faculty with a Shared Purpose

Our faculty, researchers, and students are passionate about solving some of the toughest economic problems to help alleviate poverty and hunger.

CIDER fosters cross-campus collaboration by bringing together faculty with expertise in topics like the economics of poverty, food insecurity, and agricultural and rural development from four units across campus: the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy (Brooks), and the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (SC Johnson College).

The People Making Change Happen

The people behind CIDER’s mission are critical. These faculty members bring their unique expertise from their illustrious careers and backgrounds together to help alleviate poverty and hunger.

Core Faculty

Jenny Aker

Daniel G. Sisler Professor of Development Economics jca253@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Global Development, Cornell University

Research Areas: Economic development in Africa, information technology and development, agricultural economics

Sule Alan

Professor of Economics and Behavioral Science sa2428@cornell.edu

Department/School: Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, Cornell University

Research Areas: Education, education and social policy evaluations, human and social capital formation and gender

Chris Barrett

Stephen B. and Janice G. Ashley Professor of Applied Economics and Management cbb2@cornell.edu

Department/School: Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management; Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy; Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability; Cornell Institute for Food Systems

Research Areas: Poverty traps, food security, agri-food value chains, socio-technical change, resilience, risk management, food policy

Julieta Caunedo

Associate professor jdc364@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Economics, Cornell University

Research Areas: Macroeconomics and development, impact of technology for productivity and the labor market

Brian Dillon

Assistant professor of development economics and applied econometrics bmd28@cornell.edu

Department/School: Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University

Research Areas: Development economics, agriculture economics, labor markets, food security, small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Mario Herrero

Professor; Cornell Atkinson Scholar; Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences mario.herrero@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Global Development, Cornell CALS (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)

Research Areas: Food systems, environment, climate mitigation, livestock systems, sustainability metrics, sustainable diets

John Hoddinott

H.E. Babcock Professor of Food and Nutrition Economics and Policy jfh246@cornell.edu

Department/School: Division of Nutritional Sciences; Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management; Department of Global Development, Cornell University

Research Areas: Poverty dynamics, food insecurity, undernutrition, social protection, agriculture, gender, human capital formation, early life nutrition, poverty alleviation interventions, survey methods

Shreya Kankanhalli

Assistant professor of marketing sak355@cornell.edu

Department/School: Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University

Research Areas: Quantitative marketing, emerging markets, digital technology, retail modernization

Chuan Liao

Assistant professor cl824@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Global Development, Cornell University

Research Areas: Environmental sustainability, development and justice, human-environment interactions, statistical and spatial methods, land tenure and land use change, dryland system sustainability, sustainable energy transition, circular bionutrient economy

Daniel Mason-D’Croz

Senior research associate dem286@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Global Development, Cornell University

Research Areas: Anticipatory governance, scenario development and analysis, economic modeling, sustainable food systems, climate change, food security, responsible innovation, diets

Fridah Mubichi-Kut

Professor of Practice mfm96@cornell.edu

Department/School: Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Global Development, Cornell University

Research Areas: Agricultural innovation adoption, economic development, entrepreneurship, gender equity, monitoring and evaluation

Martina Occelli

Research associate mo386@cornell.edu

Department/School: School of Integrative Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University

Research Areas: Traditional ecological knowledge, participatory methods and tools design, technology adoption, impact assessment, agriculture, crop improvement, gender

Heather Schofield

Assistant professor of applied economics and policy hws44@cornell.edu

Department/School: Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Research Areas: Development economics, behavioral economics, health economics, human capital, productivity

Daniela Scur

Assistant professor dscur@cornell.edu

Department/School: Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University

Research Areas: Organizational economics, development economics, labor economics

Elizabeth Tennant

Research associate ejt58@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Economics, Cornell University

Research Areas: Sustainable development, poverty and food security, natural hazards and disasters, political violence, climate adaptation and resilience

Joanna Beth Upton

Senior research associate jbu3@cornell.edu

Department/School: Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University

Research Areas: Economics of development, public policy analysis, food security, resilience, sub-Saharan Africa

Kurt Waldman

Assistant professor kbw8@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Global Development, Cornell University

Research Areas: Environmental decision making, climate adaptation, sustainable agricultural technology adoption, food security, heuristics, cognitive biases

Affiliated Faculty

Nico Bottan

Assistant professor nicolas.bottan@cornell.edu

Department/School: Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and the Department of Economics, Cornell University

Research Areas: Public economics, Behavioral economics, Development economics, Education.

Lourdes S. Casanova

Senior lecturer; Gail and Roberto Cañizares Director of the Emerging Markets Institute lc683@cornell.edu

Department/School: Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University

Research Areas: International business with a focus on emerging markets (China, Latin America, India), family business, global business, innovation, strategy

Carolina Castilla

Richard M. Kessler Professor of Economics Studies; Adjunct Associate Research Professor of Economics ccastilla@colgate.edu

Department/School: Department of Economics, Colgate University; Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

Research Areas: Development economics applied to intra-household decision-making and gender economics

Sabrina Karim

Hardis Family Assistant Professor smk349@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Government, Cornell University

Research Areas: Comparative politics, international relations, conflict and peace processes, state building, gender, violence against women, police violence, security assistance

Yanyan Liu

Adjunct Associate Professor yl526@cornell.edu

Department/School: Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University

Research Areas: Development Economics, Program Impact Evaluation, Agricultural Insurance and Productivity Analysis, Applied Microeconomics

Ed Mabaya

Research professor; director, Humphrey Fellowship Program; co-director, Graduate Field of Global Development em37@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Global Development, Cornell University

Research Areas: Development, agribusiness value chains, food security, economic development in Africa, seed systems, digital agriculture

Karlijn Morsink

Adjunct Associate Professor km985@cornell.edu

Department/School: Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University

Research Areas: Development, applied micro, and behavioral economics

Tom Pepinsky

Walter F. LaFeber Professor pepinsky@cornell.edu

Department/School: Department of Government, Cornell University

Research Areas: Interaction of political and economic systems, democratic backsliding, social science research methods, Southeast Asia

Leadership and Staff

The CIDER faculty director and programs manager collaborate with the core faculty to deliver programs, engage with students and predoctoral research fellows, organize events, foster partnerships, and promote CIDER’s impact. Staff members manage the day-to-day operations of CIDER. They work directly with faculty to develop programs, communicate outputs, and support research projects.

Chris Barrett

Faculty Director
cbb2@cornell.edu

Chris Barrett joined the Cornell faculty in 1998 and is the inaugural faculty director of CIDER. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, and the African Association of Agricultural Economists. He is co-editor-in-chief of the journal Food Policy, edits the Palgrave Macmillan book series Agricultural Economics and Food Policy, and is an editorial board member for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Kelsey Schreiber

Programs Manager
kls329@cornell.edu

Kelsey Schreiber, as the CIDER programs manager, is responsible for organizing and executing the STARS Fellowship, supervising predoctoral fellows, and assisting in core faculty research. She manages CIDER’s administrative tasks and outreach efforts, facilitates training and course development, plans events, and maintains relationships with funders.

Carey Manwa

Webmaster
com34@cornell.edu

Carey Manwa is an undergraduate majoring in information science with concentrations in data science and interactive technologies. As the webmaster for CIDER, he maintains and enhances the program’s web presence. He also collaborates with the CIDER team to support the STARS Fellowship by regularly updating and deploying new custom webpages.

Explore More Centers and Institutes

CIDER focuses on the toughest economic problems to help alleviate poverty and hunger. The SC Johnson College has many other centers and institutes with varying areas of specialty. Explore these different groups and other expertise coming out of the college.

Other C&Is within the College