Agricultural and Applied Economics

Teo Skevas is an associate professor in the Division of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Missouri. Dr. Skevas' research lies at the intersection of agricultural economics, production economics, environmental sustainability, and decision science. His work integrates econometric analysis, optimization techniques, and simulation modeling to study how farmers, agribusinesses, and supply-chain actors respond to economic risks, environmental pressures, technological change, and policy incentives. 

Wyatt Thompson is a professor of agricultural and applied economics. He joined the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute at the University of Missouri in 2006 to work on biofuel markets and policies, agricultural policies and trade. Before joining the team, he worked at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France, analyzing export competition policies, measuring agricultural policy support and assessing market impacts of policies, particularly those of the European Union, Mexico and the United States. He also worked on similar topics at the Policy Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Tokyo, Japan, as a research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. During a sabbatical from MU, he spent a year at the Office of the Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  

Michael Sykuta is an economist and associate professor in the Division of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Missouri and serves as executive director of the Financial Research Institute. Dr. Sykuta’s research focuses on contracting practices, firm organization, organizational governance and the implications of regulation and government programs for firm and industry behavior.  

Jason Franken is an associate professor and MFA chair in agribusiness in the Division of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Missouri. Dr. Franken's research draws on economics, marketing, and decision sciences to understand the organization and operation of marketing channels to add value and manage risk, with a particular interest in contracting, futures markets, and cooperatives. He regularly contributes to the University of Missouri’s Rural & Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center and the University of Illinois’ farmdoc extension programming and is a member of the Commodity Risk Management Expertise Centre. 

Adrienne Ohler is FRI’s Associate Director of Policy Research and an associate professor at the University of Missouri. Dr. Ohler's research and teaching focus on environmental, energy, and water economics, with particular emphasis on regulatory economics, energy policy, water quality, and utility systems. Her work examines how public policy, institutional design, and technological change shape energy and water security, environmental quality, infrastructure resilience, and economic outcomes. Her research includes energy markets, advanced metering and residential electricity demand, water quality, distressed water systems, and the non-market valuation of environmental amenities.