Research:

His teaching and research are in the area of agricultural marketing, with specializations in the following:

1. economics of stored products, especially integrated pest management, working with an interdisciplinary team of stored product specialists

2. economics of food supply chains, in which he is co-leading a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research and extension team seeking to improve food safety, supply chain management, and animal disease traceability using whole-chain traceability technology.

 

Most of this research has focused on evaluating costs, benefits, efficiency and risk of alternative technologies and rules for policymakers and business decision makers.

Examples include:

• economics of alternative methods for insect control in grain storage and processing (including chemical, non-chemical, and integrated pest management)

• effects of traceability technology on food supply chain efficiency and value added

• measuring riskiness of decisions using real options

• economics of processing poultry litter within a watershed vs. transporting out

• effects of farm programs on agricultural markets

• effects of export rules on grain prices

 

Most of this research is interdisciplinary, in which Dr. Adam provides economics expertise to teams of agricultural engineers, entomologists, food scientists, computer scientists, and others. Currently, he is working with teams of entomologists, agricultural engineers, and food scientists to identify insect control strategies for food processors that are both economical, safe, and environmentally friendly.

 

Dr. Adam has authored or co-authored more than 50 refereed publications, and made more than 70 presentations at state, national and international academic and industry conferences, for Congressional steering committees, and for government agencies. To support this research he and his colleagues have been awarded research grants totaling more than $6 million. Dr. Adam received the James Whatley Award for Meritorious Research in Agriculture in 2000, an annual award from OSU’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources to its top young scientist.

 

Consulting: 

As a consultant, Dr. Adam has applied this kind of research to specific companies and for government agencies, including:

• estimating the risk-adjusted costs and benefits for a proprietary technology for processing agricultural waste

• evaluating alternative strategies for implementing a whole-chain traceability system, and

• comparing the economics of two different chemicals for fumigating food processing plants.

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Teaching: 

In his 30-year teaching career Dr. Adam has taught more than 2,600 undergraduate and 460 graduate students, and has served as major adviser for 35 graduate students, receiving Outstanding Teacher honors in 1990-91, 1994-95, 2002-03, and 2005-06.

 

Before beginning his academic career, Dr. Adam worked on his family’s farm in Nebraska, assisting with both production activities and financial analysis.