UF Ph.D. student in Food and Resource Economics and Economic Impact Analysis Program Graduate Research Assistant Roberto Koeneke played a vital role in organizing this year’s Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) annual meeting as Chair of the Graduate Student Section, a three-year long leadership position.
AAEA is a national professional organization of over 2,600 members across various fields of applied and agricultural economics.
Koeneke served as the chair-elect through the 2023 annual conference in July, shadowing his predecessor and learning more about the position’s responsibilities. He is now in the second year of the position, meaning next year, he will serve as the past chair, mentoring his successor.
“During your chair year, you do it all,” Koeneke said. “The past chair is there if issues arise.”
As the current chair, Koeneke said his role is to organize different efforts to help grad students in their academic journey and prepare them for post-graduate success in academia, industry and government roles.
“It is important that we pick topics that will have a national and global reach,” Koeneke said.
Koeneke said the opportunity to get involved has been invaluable, and an experience he would highly recommend to his fellow graduate students.
“Getting involved is wonderful,” Koeneke said. “You help your fellow graduate students, your colleagues, you develop leadership skills, communication skills, you get to meet a lot of people.”
At the Annual Conference in July 2024, the Graduate Student Section organized two targeted track sessions. The first session focuses on career paths, highlighting the different jobs students can go into after completing their degrees. The second provides a Job Market Outlook, preparing students to enter the workforce successfully and offering advice on topics such as what job market papers to use.
In addition, Koeneke said they co-sponsored sessions with various other sections within AAEA. For example, they collaborated with the experimental economics section on one session for graduate students to showcase their latest research.
Finally, the Graduate Student Section organized three main competitions held at the conference – a case study competition, a policy communications competition, and an Extension competition carried out in collaboration with AAEA’s Extension section.
“It’s great to see what people are working on, but even more beneficial to meet them in person, talk to them and be able to connect with people,” Koeneke said. “You can meet someone at a conference and be a collaborator with them later in your career. The networking aspect is vital.”
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