Welcome!
I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marketing, Agribusiness, and Supply Chain Management at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK). I teach Agribusiness Management (AGBS315), Food and Commodity Marketing (AGBS335), Economics of the Agricultural Sector (which is actually an ag policy course despite its name) (AGBS350), and Introduction to Macroeconomics (ECON270). I also have experience teaching Introduction to Agribusiness, Farm Management, American Agricultural History, and Human Resource Management in Agriculture (at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and Michigan State University (MSU)). I typically carry a 3-3 teaching load with an occasional class in the summer. I typically teach at least one class online a year.
For my in person classes I enjoy inviting guest speakers and going on field trips and so am grateful to all those who give their time to do this. Some past speakers include Ryan Ruppert, and field trips include Andersons grain elevator, Huss Livestock Market, Nebraska Cooperative Council, and the Nebraska Unicameral.
I also enjoy reading about teaching innovations in the agricultural and applied economics field at https://www.aetrjournal.org/ and have incorporated materials from their publications into class. Personally, I have published about an experiential client-based project in the NACTA Journal, another great resource for agricultural instructors. This particular article is available at https://nactaarchives.org/attachments/article/2816/15.%20Kaminski.pdf.
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This article sprang from my time at Michigan State University (MSU). I graduated with a Ph.D. in Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics in August 2020. The three articles resulting from dissertation work are:
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V. Caputo, D.M. Kaminski, and M. Porter. (2023) “Dairy workers’ preferences for compensatory benefits: A field experiment with U.S. immigrants and students” Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association 2:198–214. The article can be accessed at https://bit.ly/comppref
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Kaminski, D.M., V. Caputo, and M. McKendree. (2024) “The U.S. Public's Attitudes on Animal and Worker Welfare in the Dairy and Poultry Industries” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics The article can be accessed using this PDF link.
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D.M. Kaminski and V. Caputo. "Eggs Produced Under Certified Labor Conditions: Are U.S. Consumers Willing to Pay for It and Does Prior Information Impact Their Behavior?" (work in progress)
These articles concentrate on employee working conditions in the dairy industry by employing discrete choice (DCE) and best-worst scaling (BWS) experiments. The viewpoints of multiple stakeholders along the agri-food supply chain are incorporated. These works span research in labor economics/human resource management, food marketing, and public policy.
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I am currently working on finishing a research project begun with two undergraduate FHSU students. One paper from this project with collaboration from Rudolfo Nayga, Jr. and Wei Yang will be presented as an invited paper at the Annual Meeting of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) this July 2025. At this meeting I will also be facilitating the Teaching, Learning, and Communication (TLC) Section business meeting as chair, presenting during a TLC/Labor Economics Section (LES) track session on teaching and communicating about ag HR/labor, and co-organizing a post-conference workshop on Reducing the Labors of Beginning Agricultural Labor Economics Research.
Perhaps the best way to see the comprehensive picture of who I am professionally is to view my CV or to Contact Me for more information.