Molly Sears

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Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Advisor

Dr. Sears is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University, appointed in the tenure system. She received her PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2022.

Dr. Sears’ research lies at the intersection of agricultural production, environmental sustainability, and policy design. Her work seeks to identify economically efficient and environmentally sustainable management strategies in agricultural systems, with a particular focus on soil health and water quality. Her research generates causal evidence on producer behavior and evaluates the effectiveness of policy and management interventions. Dr. Sears’ research is particularly focused on the integration of economic analysis with biophysical and spatial data, allowing for fine-scale examination of agricultural and environmental processes.

Dr. Sears’ research agenda is organized around three primary areas. She examines management decisions, with an emphasis on how producers respond to economic incentives, regulatory environments, and agronomic conditions. Second, she studies agricultural water systems, focusing on irrigation adoption, water quality outcomes, and the role of technological and institutional innovations in shaping resource use. Third, her work investigates agricultural resilience to climate variability and market shocks, analyzing how producers adapt to changing risk environments and the implications for productivity and environmental outcomes.

Dr. Sears has published in leading peer-reviewed journals, including Ecological Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, European Review of Agricultural Economics, Agriculture and Human Values, and Land Use Policy. She has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences and academic seminars.

Research Interests

Technology adoption and innovation
Water management and policy
Nutrient Management
Choice Modeling
Survey Design

Teaching Experience

(MSU) AFRE 829: Economics of Environmental Resources (Spring 2026)
(MSU) AFRE 232: Commodity Marketing (Fall 2025-2026)

(MSU) AFRE 300: Public Policy in the Agri-Food System (Spring 2023-2026)
(UC Berkeley) EEP C101: Environmental Economics (Summer 2019)
(UC Berkeley) ARE 375: Pedagogy for ARE Graduate Student Instructors (Fall 2018)