Dr. Bryan Endres studies the impact of law throughout food and bio-products supply chains and develops solutions to improve regulatory outcomes. He explores a range of issues, including legal structures to support farms engaged in direct marketing, small farm regulatory compliance, liability issues relating to the use of genetically engineered seed, and developing cooperative legal structures to manage invasive plants better.

Dr. Renata Endres works as a University Lecturer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her interests of study include: Natural Resource Economics, Energy and Environmental Economics, Public Finance, Recreation and Tourism Economics.

Dr. Sharon Suiwen Zou is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism. Her research focuses on marketing and consumer behaviors in the context of rural tourism, agritourism, and nature-based tourism. Her research agenda aims at building economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable communities through tourism and leisure. She has expertise in mixed-methods research, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, and experimental design.

Dr. Jonathan Coppess is on faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, director of the Gardner Agriculture Policy Program and author of THE FAULT LINES OF FARM POLICY: A LEGISLATIVE AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE FARM BILL. He has served as Chief Counsel and special counsel for the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Administrator of the Farm Service Agency at USDA and Legislative Assistant to Senator Ben Nelson. Jonathan grew up on his family’s farm in Western Ohio, earned his Bachelors’ from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and his Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC

Jessica Guarino is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Department of Agricultural & Consumer Economics and engages in research and writing in the fields of agricultural, food, and environmental law. Special topics of research include agricultural exceptionalism, local and regional food systems, urban agriculture, and reasonable food consumer jurisprudence.

Dr. Min-Fang Wei is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto. Her research concentrates on food insecurity issues and the largest food assistance program in the U.S., the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). She also explores the policy implication of food insecurity in other high-income countries like Canada. Min-Fang is a UIUC alumnus with a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics.

Tyler Swanson is an undergraduate research assistant pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural & Consumer Economics with a concentration in Environmental Economics & Policy and Minors in Urban Planning and the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment fellows program. Tyler’s primary research interest is studying the potential of renewable energy to contribute to rural economic development.

Quin Karhoff is an undergraduate research assistant pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural & Consumer Economics with a concentration in Environmental Economics & Policy and a minor in the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment fellows program. Quin’s research has included stakeholder interests, including federal, state, and local government policy, on dual-use solar.