Originally from San Diego, California, Amelia’s interest in agriculture started as a love of horses. An avid equestrian, Amelia was interested in pursuing a career related to animal sciences. However, early in her undergraduate studies, Amelia became interested in global food security, hunger, and nutrition issues.

Amelia attended Clemson University, where she received a bachelor of science in Agribusiness in three years while making amazing friends, competing at the AAEA Quizbowl, and cheering on the Clemson Tigers at CFP Playoffs and Championships games.

Amelia continued her education by attending the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for a Master’s in Science of Agricultural and Resource Economics. At the University of Tennessee, Amelia continued to focus her studies on global food security and nutrition and completed her thesis, “The Economics of Global Saturated Fat Intake and Implications for Public Health,” under the guidance of Dr. Andrew Muhammad. The subject of Amelia’s Master’s degree focused on the impacts of food prices and income on nutrient consumption, global health trends, and public health policy.

Amelia earned her PhD at Texas A&M University in the Department of Agricultural Economics. At Texas A&M, Amelia specialized in behavioral and experimental economics under her advisor, Dr. Marco Palma, at the Human Behavioral Lab. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on using lottery mechanisms to investigate individuals' preferences under uncertainty in various domains, such as consumer valuations of sustainable beef products, labor productivity, and charitable giving.