The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland is located in Symons Hall on the College Park Campus. It is a unit of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and has financial and programmatic ties to the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station and the University of Maryland Extension. The University of Maryland offers one of the country's outstanding graduate programs in agricultural, resource, and environmental economics.
The department has a highly regarded and internationally recognized faculty of about 25 tenure-track members. Most have split appointments, usually a two-way split, among teaching, research, and extension. The department has a strong research-graduate student orientation, usually with about 50 to 60 active graduate students. The department offers 16 graduate courses in a variety of subjects from econometrics to agricultural policy and environmental management.
The department's research strengths are principally in the areas of agricultural and trade policy, environmental and natural resource economics, production economics and sustainable agriculture, and international development. The faculty has an outstanding publication record with articles in all leading economics journals. Several faculty have received prestigious research awards and their work is cited frequently.
The department provides excellent office, data laboratory, library, and computer and operating support for faculty and graduate students. The library houses all important economics journals and the most relevant research reports and government publications. Its state-of-the-art computer facilities make it possible for faculty and graduate students to access data bases from their office and home computers. It provides to faculty and graduate students on-line access to campus, national, and international databases. All important software packages are available.
