M. Taylor Rhodes Work Experience
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M. Taylor Rhodes Email: [email protected] Work Experience: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service 355 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20024 United States 08/2016 - Present Hours per week: 40 Research Agricultural Economist Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills: From August of 2016 to Present, I have been a research agricultural economist at the Economic Research Service (ERS), Diet, Safety and Health Economics Branch within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. My research examines consumer food-safety practices, consumer choices of foods with health risks, the economics of raw milk and the raw milk industry, income growth and food-based illnesses, determinants of product-level import food refusals, risk factors of foodborne illness, geographic foodborne illness forecasting and how tax policy affects household food insecurity. I have received advanced training in economic theory, statistics and econometrics from graduate-level course work at UNC-Greensboro, Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill and University Virginia. Methods include: discrete choice models (i.e. probit, logit, tobit, Heckman selection), demand estimation, production function estimation, multi-level panel data methods (i.e. fixed effects, random effects) and causal methods (i.e. difference-in-differences, propensity score analysis). I am an expert in STATA and EXCEL; proficient in MATLAB and SCILAB; knowledgeable in SAS, R and IMPLAN; and, I have experience with large datasets (ex: UPC scanner data; U.S. import refusals). Ongoing Research or Research Under-Review at ERS: 1. “Do food-service workers practice at home what their work preaches?” with Fred Kuchler. Submitted to the Journal of Food Protection, June 2019. 2. “How Do Import Refusals for Pathogen Violations Respond to a Recession?” Submitted to the Journal of Food Protection, May 2019. 3. “Determinants of weekly raw milk use by at-home meal preparers in the United States,” with Fred Kuchler. Submitted to the Journal of Consumer Affairs, March 2019. 4. “Income and Illness: Examining how changes in the distribution of income affect food illness.” 5. “Set versus Continuous Testing: Implications for Performance on Salmonella tests,” with Michael Ollinger. 6. “Examining the Usefulness of Continuous Measures of Food Insecurity for Empirical Research,” with Matthew P. Rabbitt, Emily M. Engelhard and George Engelhard, Jr. 7. “Federal Payroll Tax Policy and Food Insecurity: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment,” with Matthew P. Rabbitt. Published Research at ERS: 1. Rhodes, M.T. and Fred Kuchler. “Food-service employees are more likely to use a food thermometer at home.” ERS Charts of Note, May 22, 2019. 2. Rhodes, M.T. and Fred Kuchler. “From 2014 to 2016, over one-third of at-home meal preparers who used raw milk lived with one or more children.” ERS Charts of Note, April 9, 2019. 3. Rhodes, M.T. and Fred Kuchler. “Not All Consumers Are Following Food Safety Advice From Health Officials.” Amber Waves Finding: Food Safety, Economic Research Service, April 1, 2019. 4. Rhodes, M.T. and Fred Kuchler. “Meal-preparer characteristics differ between food thermometer users and nonusers.” ERS Charts of Note, March 12, 2019. 5. Rhodes, M.T. and Fred Kuchler. “In 2016, raw milk could be legally purchased in 38 States.” ERS Charts of Note, February 13, 2019. 6. Rhodes, M.T., Fred Kuchler, Ket McClelland and Karen S. Hamrick. “Consumer Food Safety Practices: Raw Milk Consumption and Food Thermometer Use.” Economic Information Bulletin (EIB- 205), Economic Research Service, January 2019. 7. Ollinger, M. and M.T. Rhodes. “Regulation, Market Signals, and the Provision of Food Safety in Meat and Poultry.” Amber Waves Feature: Food Safety, Economic Research Service, May 2017. Notable Data Experience at ERS: 1. American Time Use Survey - Eating and Health Module 2. Operational and Administrative System for Import Support (OASIS) Database 3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foodborne Outbreak Online Database (FOOD Tool) 4. Regional economic accounts data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) 5. United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Data System 6. University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research National Welfare Data Notable Staff Analysis at ERS: 1. “ERS Collaboration with FDA and Research Using FDA Data.” Staff Analysis for Dr. Scott Hutchins, Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, April 2019. 2. “Food Safety Practices by those working in Food Service,” Presentation and discussion for Aaron Lavallee, Deputy Assistant Administrator Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education FSIS, and Tanya Brown, also of the Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education FSIS, 2018. Notable Conference Presentations: 1. “Income and Illness: Examining how changes in the distribution of income affect food illness.” Conference Presentation, Eastern Economic Association, February 2017. Notable Training: 1. Completed government travel training. Notable Awards: 1. USDA ERS Extra Effort Award, 2017. Oregon State University 4943 The Valley Library Corvallis, OR 97331 United States 12/2016 - Present Hours per week: 20 E-Campus Instructor Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills: Since December of 2016, I have been an E-Campus Instructor for the Economics Program at Oregon State University. The E-Campus program at Oregon State University is ranked 3rd in the nation for Best Online Bachelor's Programs by U.S. News and World Reports, offers over 1,200 courses and features more than 20 undergraduate degrees and nearly 30 graduate degrees. I have worked with the OSU E-Campus staff to develop, implement and teach three E-Campus courses: Public Policy Analysis (a writing intensive course on contemporary public policy issues), Public Economics (a course on externalities, public goods, federal budgets, public finance and notable federal welfare programs) and Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (an algebra-based microeconomic theory course). Reg Murphy Center and College of Coastal Georgia One College Drive Brunswick, GA 31520 United States 08/2014 - 07/2016 Hours per week: 40 Assistant Professor of Economics Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills: I spent two years as an assistant professor of economics (tenure-track) at the College of Coastal Georgia (CCGA) in Brunswick, Georgia. I was also an affiliated full-time faculty member for the Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies, where I performed research on local economic conditions, specifically participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Brantley, Glynn and McIntosh counties as well as in Georgia, and conducted empirical analyses for a contracted regional impact study. My findings on SNAP were featured on the front-page of The Brunswick News and were the product of a research grant via the Summer Research Fellowship program in 2015. Lastly, I wrote three textbook manuscripts: introductory microeconomics, intermediate microeconomics and statistics using Excel. Published Research at College of Coastal Georgia: 1. “Divergent Trends in State-level SNAP Participation: Evidence with Aggregate-level Data.” Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies, April 2016. 2. “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Brantley, Glynn and McIntosh Counties: Analyzing the 2007 Recession using Aggregate-level Data.” Reg Murphy Center for Economic and Policy Studies, October 2015. Notable Conference Presentations: 1. “Does Hosting the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament Increase Local Sales?” Conference Presentation, Eastern Economic Association, February 2016. 2. “Divergent Trends in State-level SNAP Participation: Evidence with Aggregate-level Data.” Conference Presentation, Eastern Economic Association, February 2016. 3. “Pigskin, Tailgating and Pollution: Estimating the Environmental Impact of Sporting Events.” Conference Presentation, International Atlantic Economic Conference, October 2014. Notable Media Coverage: 1. The Brunswick News, “Surprising Study SNAP rates for Brunswick area higher than state, nation since recession,” April 23-24, 2016. 2. The Brunswick News, “Professor seeks positive ways to decrease SNAP participation,” April 26, 2016. Notable Institutional Service: 1. Faculty Development Committee, 2015-2016. Notable Consulting Service: 1. Economic Impact Analysis and Regional Economic Impact Report (private client), 2016. Notable Awards: 1. Nominated for Professor of the Year at CCGA, 2015 and 2016. 2. College of Coastal Georgia Summer Research Fellowship: Summer 2015. Lawrence University 711 E. Boldt Way Appleton, WI 54911 United States 09/2013 - 08/2014 Hours per week: 40 Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills: I spent one year as a visiting assistant professor of economics at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. I created and taught the following courses: macroeconomics, labor economics, mathematical economics and sports economics. Published Research at Lawrence University: 1. “Online Homework Management Systems: Should We Allow Multiple Attempts?” with Jeffrey K. Sarbaum (Fall 2015, The American Economist). University of North Carolina at Greensboro 1400 Spring Garden Street Greensboro, NC 27412 United States 05/2010 - 12/2014 Hours per week: 20 Instructor / Part-time Lecturer of Economics Duties, Accomplishments and Related Skills: I spent five years as an instructor, part-time lecturer of economics at the University of North Carolina