Welcome to the School of Economics

The School of Economics serves as the hub of economics research and teaching at the University of Maine. We encourage you to explore our website to learn more about our academic programs, research programs, faculty and staff, and students.

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Connect with students, faculty & alumni @ UMaine School of Economics!

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Stacia Dreyer, an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. student with the School of Economics, Department of Psychology and the Sustainability Solutions Initiative, was selected to receive a 2012 Endeavor Research Fellowship from the Government of Australia to conduct research with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Perth, Western Australia.  The Endeavour Award is an internationally competitive, merit-based scholarship program providing opportunities for citizens of the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas to undertake study, research and professional development in Australia.
 
As part of her research, Stacia and her advisors will develop a survey to investigate environmental decision making and support for sustainable technologies, conservation practices and/or policies.  This interdisciplinary research will attempt to integrate the fields of environmental psychology and behavioral economics.  She will be advised by Dr. Iain Walker (CSIRO) in Western Australia and Drs. Mario Teisl (School of Economics) and Shannon McCoy (Dept. of Psychology) at the University of Maine. Stacia is excited to begin her 6 month international research collaboration at the end of this summer. 

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Haley Engelberth, a Master’s Candidate in Ecology and Environmental Science, won First Place in the Graduate Poster Competition at the 2012 Maine Water Conference for her poster, “Fish Advisories for At-Risk Mainers: Does knowledge lead to action?” Collaborating with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Haley, with her committee (SOE faculty Teisl, Bell, and Noblet and CDC’s Dr. Andy Smith) is examining the effectiveness of Maine’s Mercury Advisory. The advisory aims to educate pregnant women in Maine because eating fish has many health benefits for them and their developing babies, but almost all fish contains some amount of mercury.

The research shows women who read the advisory know more about mercury and switch from high-mercury to low-mercury fish . These findings indicate an improved potential for increasing the cognitive abilities’ of babies born in Maine. The research shows the advisory increases social welfare by providing accurate and understandable information to those who need it most, and will advance public health education in Maine.

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Julia McGuire was recently awarded an NSF graduate research fellowship. The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.