Michelle Segovia, assistant professor in agricultural and applied economics, received the 2022 Early Investigator Research Award as part of the Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony April 19.

Segovia’s research is focused on the economics of food consumption and health, combining lab and field experiments with neurophysiological data such as eye tracking to better understand the factors influencing consumer decision making. She has expanded her research program at the University of Missouri through multidisciplinary collaborations both at Mizzou and at other land-grant institutions to study the environmental and behavioral factors that influence decision-making among farmers and stakeholders.

In her first four years at MU, Segovia has been a PI and Co-PI on three grants awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). She has also published seven articles in peer-reviewed journals and has given 17 talks and conference presentations nationally and internationally.

“With her demonstrated ability to secure funding and produce high-quality publications, Dr. Segovia is already proving herself to be a highly productive faculty member,” said Joe Parcell, Director of the Division of Applied Social Sciences. “She is well positioned to conduct high impact research that will help individuals make optimal decisions while informing policy makers on more effective ways to implement intervention programs.”

“Dr. Segovia is a very productive and creative behavioral economist who at this early stage in her career has already made significant discoveries relevant to a general audience,” said Marco Palma, professor of agricultural economics and Director of the Human Behavior Laboratory at Texas A&M University.