Dr. Pratheesh Omana Sudhakaran
Assistant Professor of Agribusiness/Economics
Pratheesh Sudhakaran is an applied economist with more than 12 years of experience in academic and industry in the fields of fisheries, aquaculture, natural resources and agriculture. He did his undergraduate degree in Fisheries Sciences from Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala, India. Immediately after graduation he started with a fishing accessories firm based in India. After a year, he moved to Tanzania to work in seafood processing firm. Subsequently, with three years of industry experience he moved to U.S. to pursue his MS in aquaculture and fisheries. He began his research career in production economics where he was working to come up with improved inventory techniques for Multi-year Catfish production ponds. Later, he moved to University of Rhode Island for his Ph.D. During his Ph.D. he worked on different research projects on consumer behavior on food and natural resource management issues. His Ph.D. dissertation was selected as the Best Dissertation by the International Association of Aquaculture Economist (IAAEM) in 2016. One of the studies he conducted for his dissertation was used as a baseline economic study in framing shellfish management plan for the state of Rhode Island. Upon completing his Ph.D., Pratheesh started his teaching career at Tarrant County Community College. After working for a year in the community college, he joined Texas State University.
Education:
Ph.D. Environment and Natural Resource Economics, University of Rhode Island
M.S., Aquaculture and Fisheries, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
B.S., Fisheries Science, Kerala Agricultural University
Courses Taught
- AG 3317 Farm Management
- AG 3318 Agribusiness Management
- AG 3352 Quantitative Methods in Agriculture
- AG 4380 Agricultural Finance
Research interests:
- Aquaculture and fisheries economics
- Food safety economics
- Natural resource economics
- Experimental economics
- Production economics
- Consumer behavior