UW Team Members

Ben Rashford

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Ben Rashford, PhD, is an associate professor in the Dept. of Ag & Applied Economics at the University of Wyoming. His current appointment is split between teaching, research and extension.

Ben's research and extension efforts are focused broadly in the areas of environmental and natural resource economics, with particularly interests in natural resource issues at the intersection of agricultural production and the environment. Some of his current research and extension projects include:

• Conservation and management of wildlife on private land
• Effects of climate change on land use and habitat conservation
• Economics of wildlife disease in range livestock production systems

On the WAFERx project, Ben will be leading the Wyoming team who will analyze the economic implications of achieving different BECCS scenarios, including how various economic and climate drivers influence the region's land use, how alternative farming systems affect on-farm profitability, and how different BECCS options affect the regional economy.  

Ben also teaches a graduate course in research methods (AGEC 5650), which covers written and oral communication skills for applied economics research.

Shannon E. Albeke

Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC)

Shannon Albeke, PhD, is a research scientist-ecoinformaticist for Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC) at the University of Wyoming. His research interests include:

• Integration of field-collected and spatial data for the development of relational geospatial databases
• Creation of Graphical User Interfaces to facilitate ecological workflows
• Integration of VB.NET and Program R to facilitate development/deployment of Individual Based Models (IBM's) simulating animal movements within landscape networks 

Shannon’s role on the WAFERx project is to support the development of statistical models to explain and project land-use changes, including changes in cropping systems and grasslands.

Roger H. Coupal

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Roger Coupal, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wyoming. His appointment is split between teaching, research, and extension and his research interests focus on:

• Regional economic modelling
• Natural resource policy
• Community development

On the WAFERx project, Roger will work with Robert Godby to conduct an economic impact assessment to determine the regional-level economic impacts of proposed methods of achieving negative CO₂ emission.

Robert W. Godby

Department of Economics and Finance

Robert Godby, PhD, Is an associate professor in the Department of Economics in the College of Business and the director for the Energy Economics & Public Policies Center at the University of Wyoming. His research interests include:

• Environment and natural resources
• Energy economics
• Industrial organization
• Macroeconomic policy

On the WAFERx project, Robert will work with Roger Coupal to conduct an economic impact assessment to determine the regional-level economic impacts of proposed methods of achieving negative CO₂ emission.

John Ritten

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

John Ritten, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wyoming. His appointment is split between teaching, research, and extension and his research expertise includes:

• Natural resource economics
• Production economics

John’s role on the WAFERx project is to develop numerical models to further understand farm-level economic incentives for, and implications of, producing food and biofuel commodities.

Windy Kelley

University of Wyoming Extension and USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub

Windy Kelley works for the University of Wyoming Extension, and is the Regional Extension Program Coordinator for the USDA Northern Plains Climate Hub (NPCH), which serves Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota. The USDA Climate Hub’s vision is to ensure robust and healthy agricultural production and natural resources under increasing weather variability and a changing climate.

Windy will coordinate with the WAFERx Project to develop and deliver extension and outreach efforts throughout the project area, and to assist with making connections with regional stakeholders.

Windy has an MS in Rangeland Ecosystems (2010) and a BA in Natural Resources (2006) – both from Colorado State University.

Amy Nagler

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Amy Nagler is a Research Scientist at the University of Wyoming’s Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Amy is working with the WAFERx team at UW to collect data and information describing historic and current agricultural production and practices in the Upper Missouri River Basin.

Recent projects include a diverse set of applied agricultural economics research: experimental markets with applications to habitat exchange market design and managing marketing and pricing risks in agricultural markets; describing sheep and goat production, marketing, and transportation networks in the Intermountain West to better inform disease modeling and response; and economic contributions from recreational trails usage on public lands.

Nagler received her MS in Agricultural Economics at the University of Wyoming in 2002 and a BA in Comparative History at the University of Washington in 1996.

Selena Gerace

University of Wyoming Extension and Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Selena Gerace recently completed her MS at the University of Wyoming where she double majored in Agricultural and Applied Economics and Environment and Natural Resources. She wrote her thesis on gender differences in negotiation behavior and market outcomes in agricultural markets. As a graduate student, she also worked with the Ruckelshaus Institute, assisting facilitators to lead county-level committees of the Wyoming Public Lands Initiative.

As the Extension Outreach Coordinator on the WAFER-x team, Selena will work with team members across institutions to ensure effective communication and full engagement with region stakeholder groups.

Eilish Hanson

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Eilish Hanson is a graduate student at the University of Wyoming, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics. She received a dual Bachelor’s Degree from UW in Business Administration and Agricultural Communication with minors in Agricultural and Applied Economics and Finance.

Eilish will be working on the WAFERx project with Dr. Ben Rashford, Dr. John Ritten, and research scientist Amy Nagler to understand the farm-level economic impacts, such as profitability, risk, and cost of production, associated with BECCS (bio-energy with carbon capture and storage) scenarios in the Upper Missouri River Basin.

Victoria Omojeso

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics

Victoria Omojeso is a graduate student at the University of Wyoming, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Economics and Extension Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria and a Diploma in Agricultural Technology from the Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Nigeria.

Victoria will be working on the WAFERx project with Dr. Benjamin Rashford to understand the land-use changes in the Upper Missouri River Basin under alternative economic and climate scenarios.