Xiurui Cui - Postdoctoral Scholar Feature

From Aspiring Vet to Agricultural Economist

It wasn’t until she was actually in a veterinary hospital, attempting to give an injection to a small, wriggling dog, that Xiurui 'Iris' Cui realized she didn’t want to be a vet after all.

“It was quite a realization,” she says, laughing. “It was definitely not for me.”

As an undergraduate studying veterinary medicine at the University of Jilin in China, Cui had expected to graduate and open a small animal clinic, caring for China’s rising number of pets. But when the hands-on portion of her education made her think twice, she had to come up with an alternate plan.

After graduation, Cui got the opportunity to work for a Dubai-based thoroughbred racing company, landing an internship in Lexington, Kentucky. There, she was trained in thoroughbred racing and management, and she got to know an equine economist from the University of Kentucky.

“I thought it was really cool that you could use data science and economic supply and demand to explain industry issues,” Cui says. “That was my transition point.”

On-the-Ground Work

Cui went on to earn a master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky. Her thesis looked at what determines thoroughbred pricing at auctions; research included working at an auction herself.

“I was handling the horses, so I would bring them from the barn to the auction spot, then they would take them on stage,” she says. “It was really fast-paced — the auctioneers were talking really fast, and even really small movements, like clicking a pen, could mean placing a bid. It was eye-opening.”

From her master’s program, Cui went on to work at a Chicago startup as a commodity market analyst. She then joined the University of Tennessee’s Extension office in Clarksville, Tennessee, helping farmers with financial planning.

“I really enjoyed it,” she says. “There’s something very different about being on the ground. In my master’s program I did a lot of analysis but didn’t actually know things like how many bushels go in a truck. It opened my eyes to what production was really like, and what the people are like. They really are the nicest people I know.”

After four years in Tennessee, she left to earn a PhD in food and natural resource economics at the University of Florida. Her dissertation was on labor economics, looking at the impact of immigration policies on employment outcomes in agricultural labor.

“In Florida, a lot of specialty crops rely on manual labor, and immigration policies like H-2A [a visa for temporary or seasonal agricultural workers] and E-Verify [a government website that allows employers to check worker eligibility status] all have implications for the industry,” she says.

Through attending an annual agricultural economics conference, she met Trey Malone, a Purdue agricultural economics associate professor and Boehlje Endowed Chair for Managerial Economics in Agribusiness. When Malone had a postdoc opening, he reached out to Cui. She came to Purdue in January.

Understanding Agribusiness Challenges

“I’m really glad I came here, because the center I’m employed at — the Center for Food and Agricultural Business — does Extension on a different level,” she says. “Before, my main Extension audience was farmers, but here the main audience is executives and agribusinesses along the supply chain. This really opened my eyes to how far impacts go.”

Cui’s research at Purdue focuses on issues of talent management and workforce challenges in the agribusiness sector.

“I’m looking at factors like what motivates people to come into the discipline, and what makes them stay,” she says. “These are the issues firms struggle with — where to recruit, how to recruit and how to retain talent.”

One common characteristic or motivation Cui has discovered is “a passion to contribute,” she says. This can be reinforced and directed by parents and teachers, and often focuses through a person’s undergraduate years, as experience opens their eyes to potential careers.

Including talent management core research, Cui is currently working on at least 15 projects, from issues in agribusiness education to strategy in sales/marketing. She says she doesn’t feel overwhelmed.

“People have asked me about work-life balance, and I have heard that the number of projects I have is crazy.” Cui says. “But what amazes even me is that when I work with a team of top performers in the field, these projects work in synchronization and move forward smoothly.”

A Commitment to the Land-Grant Mission

When she finishes her yearlong postdoc, Cui hopes to get a job as a professor at a land-grant university doing research, Extension and teaching.

“A land-grant university is really the perfect place for me,” she says.

In the meantime, when she’s not working she enjoys the outdoors with her 3-year-old son.

“I like hiking, I like traveling. I take him places. Anything outdoors we really enjoy,” she says.