Progress 02/29/24 to 02/27/25

Outputs
Target Audience:During the reporting period, the workshop directly engaged 42 participants, primarily applied and agricultural economists with a demonstrated interest in experimental methods. The primary target audience included early-career scholars--specifically Ph.D. and master's students--as well as junior faculty and researchers seeking to build or strengthen methodological skills in experimental economics. These individuals were targeted because of their potential to integrate rigorous experimental approaches into research on food, agriculture, and natural resources, thereby enhancing the scientific foundation of future policy and program evaluation. Participants represented a broad range of institutions across the United States, including major land-grant and R1 universities (e.g., Cornell, Purdue, Florida, Tennessee, Penn State, Texas A&M, and Washington State). The audience also included scholars from historically Black colleges and universities (e.g., Lincoln University of Missouri) and professionals from government agencies such as the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. These groups were targeted for their roles in research, policy development, and implementation related to agriculture and environmental management.International participants from academic institutions in Canada, Italy, Germany, and Spain also attended, reflecting the growing global relevance of experimental methods in applied economic research. While the focus remained on U.S.-based audiences, the international presence enriched peer exchange and comparative perspectives. Outreach to the target audience was achieved through direct email invitations, professional networks (e.g., AAEA Experimental Economics section), and the workshop website. The format included lectures, hands-on practicum sessions, and collaborative exercises tailored to various skill levels. Post-workshop engagement--through a published outcomes report and recorded video materials--extended the workshop's reach and served as continuing resources for attendees and the broader research community. Changes/Problems:None. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The workshop created an immersive training environment in which emerging economists moved rapidly from novices to confident practitioners. Participants benefited from one?on?one mentoring during group exercises, receiving personalized feedback on experimental protocols and data?analysis scripts. Instructors demonstrated real?world applications of choice experiments and experimental auctions drawn from their own research, helping attendees understand not only how to execute analyses but also why particular approaches matter for policy and industry. The provision of temporary software licenses ensured that every attendee could work directly on their own laptop, gaining practical experience with the tools they will use in their careers. Beyond technical skill?building, the workshop's informal social events--shared dinners and coffee breaks--served as incubators for professional growth. In these relaxed settings, participants exchanged career advice, discussed funding opportunities, and identified potential co?authors. By the workshop's end, many had established new mentoring relationships and formed research teams poised to pursue collaborative grants and conference presentations, significantly enhancing their professional trajectories. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dissemination of Workshop Results:The results of the workshop have been shared through multiple communication channels to reach a broad audience, ensuring that its impact extends beyond direct participants. Participant Presentations:On the final day, each participant presented the experimental protocols and preliminary results they had developed, sparking discussion and feedback among their peers and instructors. Website and Video Content: A dedicated website was created to promote the event. To broaden our reach beyond the website, we produced a four-minute video featuring excerpts from lectures, hands-on software sessions, group exercises, and participant testimonials; this video, together with shorter one-minute clips, has been circulated via LinkedIn, Instagram, and our institution's news channels. Finally, to engage the international research community,shorter 1-minute videos were produced for dissemination across social media platforms such as LinkedIn, institutional websites, and Instagram, summarizing key messages, instructor insights, and the overall workshop structure. Report:For AAEA 2024, we drafted a research report summarizing the workshop's methodologies, outcomes, and emerging priorities in experimental design. We shared this report with the IBES and EXECON sections and distributed a concise one-page flyer to all attendees. Conference Sessions: Toengage the international research community, we attendedtwo conference sessions: one on advances in experimental and behavioral methods in agricultural economics and another on publishing in peer-reviwed journals. Mentoring Junior Professionals in Publishing Experimental Economics Research in Agricultural Economics Journals, Session: Recent Developments in Experimental and Behavioral Economics - 2024 Edition, Event: Annual Meetings of the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA), New Orleans, LA, 2024. Advances in Experimental and Behavioral Economics in Agricultural Economics, 2024 Invited Panelist:The Future of Publishing in Agricultural Economics. Panel featuring six top agricultural and food economics journal editors, Event: 32nd International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE), August 2-7, 2024, Delhi, India. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?To improve future editions, a participant survey will be conducted to gather feedback and suggestions for additional translational outputs and improvements.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Focus: Our workshop addressed a gap in applied economics training: empowering researchers to design rigorous experiments and surveys that produce reliable, policy-relevant results in areas like food insecurity and consumer choice. Who Benefited and How:The workshop brought together thirty graduate students and early-career professionals in agricultural and applied economics, equipping them with the tools and knowledge needed to design rigorous experiments. By the end of the week, every participant reported feeling more confident in their ability to develop and implement experimental studies, and many of them indicated they intend to apply at least one of the methods learned during the workshop to their own research in the near future. Progress Toward Major Goals:?Over the reporting period,we fully realized each of our four stated objectives. First, participants received a thorough grounding in both the theory and practice of survey design and experimental methods as applied to agricultural and applied economics. Through a series of interactive lectures and real?world case studies, they explored core concepts such as validity, reliability, and the logic of choice modeling, gaining the context needed to frame rigorous research questions. Next, hands?on software sessions familiarized attendees with industry?standard tools: Ngene, NLogit, and Stata. Under instructor guidance, each participant completed end?to?end workflows, from setting up an experimental design to running parameter estimates, ensuring they could replicate these processes independently. Building on that foundation, participants then worked in small groups to draft and refine their own practice experiments. Each team developed a full protocol, incorporated peer and instructor feedback, and emerged with a ready?to?use design for future projects. Finally, the workshop fostered lasting professional connections by weaving structured networking activities--two evening dinners and daily coffee breaks--into the agenda. These interactions encouraged cross?institutional dialogue and the sharing of ideas, planting the seeds for joint proposals and collaborative research beyond the workshop itself.

Publications