Economics Alumni Panel

Please join us for a panel discussion about life after graduation with Economics alumni! Click here to join the Zoom meeting. 

Meet our panelists:

Christa Marr is an Associate Professor of Economics at Fitchburg State University where she teaches courses such as Econometrics, Public Finance, and Economic Geography. A 2008 graduate from University of Southern Maine, Christa earned her Masters Degree and PhD from Clark University. Christa’s research focuses on economic mobility, and she has published works including Local Intergenerational Mobility, Feminization of Labor and Profit Rates: Evidence from OECD Countries, and Robust Determinants of Intergenerational Mobility. She is currently working on estimating the impact of maternal investments on children’s economic outcomes as well as studying the uneven impact of the pandemic on school performance. Outside of teaching and research, Christa enjoys spending time with her family, including her two young children, and running.

Paul Beaver was a non-traditional student who went to SMCC for four semesters before transferring to USM. He has owned and operated Greencare Landscape Management for 14 years, paying above market wages and cultivating a company culture built around teamwork and human decency.

Trina Chiasson is the co-founder and CEO of Ovipost, an agricultural technology company that grows insects as a climate-friendly protein alternative for pet food. Previously, Chiasson was the co-founder and CEO of Infoactive, a data visualization and analysis software company acquired by Tableau. Chiasson was a Data Visualization Research Fellow at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, where she launched “Data + Design,” an open source book available in three languages. She was also a Visiting Scientist at the American Museum of Natural History, where she studied insect protein in the invertebrate zoology department and launched an entomological public art project in collaboration with Guerilla Science. Chiasson graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Southern Maine in 2006.