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Mark A. Constas

Mark A. Constas

  • Associate Professor

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Faculty Area

Faculty Expertise

  • Resilience measurement with applications to poverty and food security
  • Evaluation design, impact evaluation, and assessment tools for program monitoring
  • Evidence-based policy for development and humanitarian assistance

Contact

Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

607.255.1430

mark.constas@cornell.edu

Cornell Directory Entry

Biography

Mark Constas is an Associate Professor of Applied Economics and Policy in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics & Management at Cornell University. He is a Fellow of the Tata-Cornell Institute for Agriculture and Nutrition and a Fellow of the Atkinson Center for Sustainability. Through his writing and leadership, he has contributed to work that explores how the concept of resilience may be theorized and operationalized as a focal point of measurement and evaluation. He is particularly interested in advancing measurement work in applied settings where theoretical formulations can be put to the test and improved upon. In support of such work, he served as chair of the Resilience Measurement Technical Working Group, an initiative jointly coordinated by The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and The World Food Program (WFP). He is currently serving as Director of the Resilience Evidence for Decisions in Development Initiative, a newly formed, globally focused enterprise that operates under the auspices of the Global Network Against Food Crises. Working with the WFP, he developed the Resilience Measurement Monitoring (RMM) system to guide their measurement efforts. With plans for broad implementation, the RMM has thus far been adopted in a number of countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Lebanon, Niger, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

He regularly participates in expert panels on food security and resilience and has served as an advisor to several organizations in the United Nations system. He served as a member of the Expert Panel for the FAO’s State of Food Insecurity and served as an advisor to the United Nations Development Programme. His work has appeared in a selection of highly competitive peer-reviewed journals, including World Development, Global Food Security, Nature Sustainability, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His work has also been published by United Nations agencies, reaching policy audiences and implementers in developing countries.

Selected Publications

Recent Courses

  • AEM 6125 - Impact Evaluation in Developing Countries
  • AEM 6991 - MPS Research Seminar I
  • AEM 2805 - Strategic Responses to Poverty and Hunger in Developing Countries
  • AEM 6010 - Writing Competitive Research Proposals

Academic Degrees

  • PhD Cornell University, 1987
  • BS Northeastern University, 1983