Simanti Banerjee

Simanti Banerjee is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she joined in August 2014. She previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at Oberlin College (2013-14) and as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Stirling in Scotland UK (2010-13). She earned her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 2010.

Her research focuses on analyzing coordination within groups, inter-personal bargaining, and the impact of information, communication and social networks on human decision making. She uses experimental and behavioral economic methods to study conservation policies, technology adoption, and decision making under risk & uncertainty. Her work has been funded by grants from USDA and NSF, and she has established the Behavioral and Experimental Economics Lab (BEEL) at UNL.

Professor Banerjee teaches Environmental & Natural Resource Economics (AECN-NREE 265) at the undergraduate level and co-teaches Behavioral & Experimental Economics (AECN 818) at the graduate level. Her publication record shows consistent research in spatial coordination, conservation auctions, behavioral economics, and agricultural policy, with a particular emphasis on how information and communication affect environmental decision making in agricultural contexts. Her recent work has increasingly focused on regenerative ranching practices, soil health, and ecosystem services valuation.

She has received significant research funding from USDA and NSF to support her work on environmental and agricultural economics. Her collaborative network includes researchers from multiple institutions across the United States and internationally.

Professor Banerjee has advised numerous graduate students, including current PhD candidates Abdelmalek Hammami, Hanin Hosny, and Diya Ganguly, as well as MS students. Her research program demonstrates a strong commitment to understanding how economic principles can be applied to solve environmental challenges in agricultural settings.