Voinovich Scholar Chloe Christen recognized for research work

Ohio University senior Chloe Christen’s work as a Voinovich Undergraduate Research Scholar translated into success at the recent meeting of the Mid-Continent Regional Science Association (MCRSA) in Chicago.

Based on the research she conducted as part of the Voinovich Scholars program, Christen’s paper, “Measuring Farmers Market Success: An Analysis of Appalachian Ohio,” was selected as the runner-up for the M. Jarvin Emerson Best Student Paper Award.

Dr. Amanda Weinstein, director of research for the Center on Rural Innovation and president of the MCRSA, said Christen delivered one of “the most compelling student papers we saw” at the conference and noted she was competing against Ph.D. students.

"Chloe's paper was exceptionally well written and compellingly motivated. She made a strong case for why examining farmers markets in Appalachian Ohio matters and why local context has to be part of how we measure success,” Weinstein said. “That kind of applied, place-based research is exactly what regional scientists care deeply about. The quality of her work was impressive for any graduate student, let alone an undergraduate.”

Tuyen Pham, assistant research professor at the George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, has served as Christen’s supervisor in the Scholars program. She has seen that quality while working with Christen over the past year or so.

"Chloe is one of the most impressive undergraduates I have worked with. She is sharp, driven and curious,” Pham said. “She brings energy and thoughtfulness to everything she does. It has been a privilege to watch her grow, and I am excited to see where her career takes her."

Christen, a Hamilton, Ohio native, expects to graduate next year with degrees in economics, mathematics and political science.

As part of her work as a Voinovich Scholar she has been serving as a research assistant on economic development projects for faculty. Her independent research project on farmers markets served as the basis for the paper she presented at MCRSA.

“I was looking at farmers markets in Appalachian Ohio, and I wanted to create a new way to assess market success because most literature I read on farmers markets was pretty sparse, but it also didn’t really take into consideration the context of where a market is,” she said.

“Especially in Appalachian Ohio there are a lot of different struggles with high poverty rates and things like that. I wanted to try to take that into account when looking at how successful a farmers market is by taking into consideration those socioeconomic differences in different areas,” Christen said.

She hopes to expand her research in the future and explore how areas can better support the markets.

Christen said her work with Ohio University faculty in the Voinovich Scholars program has been very helpful in advancing her goals. She said she could see herself doing further research on economic development.

“It’s been great. I’m getting so much experience. Especially in the past year I’ve been helping write some academic papers and then I got to write this entire academic paper on my own,” she said. “It’s really taught me a lot and it’s such an important skill because I want to pursue a Ph.D. in Economics, so this is probably something I’ll be doing a lot of in the future.”

“So, getting a taste of what my future career might look like is a great experience,” Christen said.