I am excited to announce that I have recently accepted a position of Assistant Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy at Duke Kunshan University (DKU). DKU is a partnership of Duke University and Wuhan University, located in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, China. So, suffice it to say, Sarah, Chewbacca, and I will be moving to China! I will officially be starting on July 1, but we will be moving in June to give ourselves a little time to get settled in before diving into work. We are all very excited about what lies ahead!

DKU is a relatively young university, to date offering graduate degrees in four areas. In August of this year, they will welcome their first batch of undergraduates, with eight initial majors and several others under development. It is a very exciting opportunity to be a part of a university that is so young, but with such ambitious and promising growth prospects. I am extremely excited to be in a position to influence the next generation of thought leaders on environmental stewardship and environmental policy. I had the opportunity to visit the DKU campus earlier this month, and I was supremely impressed with the students, the faculty, and the administration.

It was not an easy decision to part with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the organization where I have worked for the last 6 years and which I have admired for much longer. It has been a great honor to have worked at IFPRI. I have been inspired by the intelligent and dedicated researchers and support staff who have contributed to IFPRI’s mission of reducing poverty and ending hunger and malnutrition. I have personally benefited from the tremendous experiences that working at IFPRI has afforded me, including my outposting in New Delhi for nearly four years. IFPRI remains a terrific organization, and I hope to maintain a connection with IFPRI throughout the remainder of my career.