Rate My Professor Hayley Hesseln

Hayley Hesseln serves as Department Head of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Associate Professor in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan. She holds a Ph.D. from Colorado State University, completed in 1997, and joined the university approximately 15 years prior to 2017, establishing a career spanning over two decades focused on teaching and research in agricultural and resource economics. Her academic interests encompass environmental economics, forestry economics, resource economics, wildfire economics, property rights, and natural resource economics. Hesseln has made notable contributions to policy discussions on the regulation of new breeding techniques and plant genome editing, as well as economic analyses of wildfire impacts and recreation demand in forested areas. She is actively involved in the Regulation of New Breeding Techniques research group at the university.

Hesseln's scholarly output includes key publications such as "Regulatory Uncertainty Around New Breeding Techniques" (Frontiers in Plant Science, 2018), "Expert opinions on the regulation of plant genome editing" (Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2021), "How should we regulate products of new breeding techniques" (GM Crops & Food, 2020), "Wildfire effects on hiking and biking demand in New Mexico: a travel cost study" (Journal of Environmental Management), "Effects of Fire on Recreation Demand in Montana" (Western Journal of Applied Forestry, 2004), and recent works like "Optimizing fuel treatments for community wildfire mitigation" (Journal of Environmental Management, 2024). Her research has accumulated over 1,800 citations on Google Scholar. Renowned for her teaching excellence, she employs innovative methodologies informed by her certification as an executive coach and delivers courses including Introduction to Agri Food Economics (AGRC 113) and Northern Resource Economics and Policy (NORD 857). Among her honors are the Master Teacher Award presented at the University of Saskatchewan Spring Convocation in 2017 and a commendation from Canada's Governor General in 2019 for rescuing a woman from the South Saskatchewan River. As Department Head, she leads departmental initiatives and serves on committees such as the USask Distinguished Teacher Award Committee.