Syed Badruddoza, an applied economist and statistician, has been named a research assistant professor with Texas Tech University's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, according to officials within the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. He officially steps into his new research post on Sept. 1.

Badruddoza indicated that his expertise includes business analytics and market research using machine learning and econometric models. His research program broadly focuses on retail market analysis, agribusiness, and classifier regression models. He has been working with economists from the United States Department of Agriculture to understand the dynamics of the dairy industry using big data from grocery stores.

One of his primary goals here at Texas Tech is to research the marketing aspects of Texan agriculture using machine learning and data science techniques for improved prediction and pattern detection. The study develops causal and predictive models to help growers and businesses take more localized, timely, and efficient decisions for precision agriculture.

Before joining the Texas Tech faculty, Badruddoza worked as a consultant at the World Bank, Washington D.C., and served as a researcher in Bangladesh at the Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development, and Economic Research Group. His research on rural finance and businesses has been published by the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

He is currently collaborating with scientists from the University of California-Davis, Washington State University, and the University of Idaho to study consumers' perception of genome-edited livestock – a project awarded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

Badruddoza's bachelor's degree in economics is from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. He has a master's degree in applied financial economics from Illinois State University, and a master's degree in statistics from Washington State University. His doctorate in economics is from Washington State University. As a graduate instructor, he taught courses on microeconomics, macroeconomics, and international trade and finance at Washington State University.

Tech's Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics currently has 17 tenured/tenure-track faculty members, three adjunct faculty members, 470 undergraduate students and 73 graduate students. It offers bachelor's degrees in Agribusiness and Agricultural and Applied Economics; masters and doctorate degrees in Agricultural and Applied Economics, and a Masters of Agribusiness.

CONTACT: Phillip Johnson, chair and director of the Thornton Agricultural Finance Institute, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-0474 or phil.johnson@ttu.edu

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