Nicolas Quintana Ashwell

Overview

Biography

Nico Quintana joined the Department of Agricultural Economics at Mississippi State University in January of 2019. His main role will be as the water economist for the MRVA Water Center, MSU-MAFES and USDA's Agricultural Research Service initiative in Stoneville, MS. His research will focus in improving academic and stakeholder understanding of the economic factors that drive the decline of an aquifer in an area with abundant precipitation and surface water sources.

Prior to joining MSU, Nico was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wyoming in Laramie where he applied his dynamic modelling skills to study wildlife conservation and ecosystem service provision in the context of cow-calf ranching in the rangelands. He earned his Ph.D. at Kansas State University where he worked with professors Jeff Peterson and Nathan Hendricks on research topics related to optimal extraction paths for a declining aquifer under different policy and climate scenarios. While finishing his doctorate, Nico worked as a consultant with the World Bank in Washington, DC, where he studied the productivity of water in agricultural use at a global scale.

Education

• Kansas State University, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Agricultural Economics
• University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, Master of Science (M.S.), Economics
• University of Kansas, Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Business Administration

Research/Extension Interests

Productivity of water in agricultural uses
Groundwater extraction and aquifer decline

Websites

• Delta Research and Extension Center
• National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research
• Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station