He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Iowa and served for two years in the U.S. Peace Corps. Stephen received an M.S. degree in agricultural economics from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan. He then worked on staff at the Federal Trade Commission where he analyzed mergers in the petroleum, natural gas and electricity industries. After two years as a visiting researcher at the University of California Energy Institute, he returned to academia for his current job in Greensboro. Stephen’s research on energy and natural resources has been published in the RAND Journal of Economics, the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Environmental and Resource Economics, and the Energy Journal.