2024 IATRC Annual Meeting Theme Day Speakers
Farid Farrokhi
Farid Farrokhi is an associate professor of economics at Boston College. Prior to this, he had a position in Purdue University for eight years, and spent two years at Columbia and Princeton. His research lies at the intersections of international trade and environmental economics, with applications to agricultural markets, climate policy, and trade policy. His work combines theory with data to examine how international trade and spatial economic interactions shape the interplay between economic performance and environmental outcomes.
Mark Bradford
Mark A. Bradford is the E.H. Harriman Professor of Soils and Ecosystem Ecology at the Yale School of the Environment and The Forest School. His group’s research investigates how soil biology governs carbon cycle responses to global change and ecosystem management. Their current work spans questions that address uncertainties in carbon cycle-climate feedback to quantifying management impacts on soil carbon. He is particularly interested in applying causal inference approaches to applied questions in ecosystem management. He is author of over 200 academic papers and is an ISI highly cited author in the field of Environment and Ecology.
Bradford connects to policy and practice through collaborations with eNGOs and other entities to produce and synthesize evidence that helps inform the management of agricultural soils and forests for climate mitigation and adaptation. He teaches soil science, ecosystem science, and science synthesis for policy and practice. He holds a BSc and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Exeter University (UK), did his graduate work at the then UK government Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, postdoctoral research at Imperial College, London and Duke University, and joined the faculty at the University of Georgia, Athens in 2005. He moved to Yale in 2009.
Ambassador Darci Vetter
Darci Vetter is a senior executive with expertise in international trade, agriculture and environment policy. She most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Public Policy at PepsiCo, where she developed and implemented enterprise-wide policy positions and advocacy strategies on sustainability, agriculture, health and wellness and economic policy issues. Prior to joining PepsiCo, she served as Head of Global Public Policy for the Nature Conservancy, focusing on policies to address the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. From 2018-2022, she served as Vice Chair for Food, Agriculture and Trade at Edelman, where she supported clients in the commodities, supply chain, agribusiness and global trade arenas. From 2014-2017, Ms. Vetter served as Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, a Senate-confirmed Presidential Appointment with the rank of Ambassador. In this role, she was responsible for bilateral and multilateral negotiations, including the Trans Pacific Partnership agricultural package, and significant bilateral negotiations with Japan, China, Brazil and other countries. Ms. Vetter was the Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture from 2010-2014, where she oversaw the Foreign Agricultural Service, directed USDA’s export assistance programs, and coordinated USDA’s role in international food aid and trade capacity building.
Ambassador Vetter has served as a non-executive director at the Neogen Corporation, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the National 4H Council, an Advisor to the Trade Experettes, and a member of the Farm Foundation Roundtable. She received her Master of Public Affairs degree and a Certificate in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton, and her undergraduate degree from Drake University in Des Moines. She grew up in Nebraska on a family farm, and lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two children.
Michael Roberts
Michael Roberts is a Professor in the Department of Economics, University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO), and Sea Grant at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. His research focuses on the effects of agricultural policies, the impacts of climate change on agriculture, commodity pricing, renewable energy integration, and experimental economics. He has published interdisciplinary research in science and economics journals and has served on several editorial boards for leading agricultural and environmental resource economics journals. Before his position at the University of Hawai’i, he was on the North Carolina State University faculty and an Economist at the USDA Economic Research Service.
Kaitlin Sighinolfi
Kaitlin Sighinolfi is the Director of Tax and Trade on the Government Affairs team at Siemens Corporation USA. Kaitlin joined Siemens in 2016 after working for twelve years on Capitol Hill. Prior to joining Siemens, Kaitlin served as Legislative Director for Congressman Charles W. Boustany Jr., MD (LA) managing the Congressman’s policy team and staffing him on issues related to tax, trade, energy and maritime policy. Kaitlin began her career in Washington, DC working for Senator Olympia Snowe (ME).
2024 IATRC Annual Meeting Theme Day Policy Panel Speakers:
- Elise Golan
- Tassos Haniotis
- Claire Citeau
- Kaitlin Sighinolfi
- Darci Vetter