Carmen Lyttle-N’guessan, coordinator of Veterinary Services at Florida A&M University, recently had a her first book entitled, “An economic evaluation of nitrate in groundwater – A contingent valuation survey in Northwest Florida,” published by Lambert Academic Publishing Company in November 2009.A novice author, N’guessan (prounounced Um-guessa) wrote the book based on work done for her master thesis while a graduate student at FAMU where she earned the M.Ed., and M.S. degrees in agricultural sciences and agribusiness. N’guessan received her B.S. degree in agribusiness and agricultural economics at Louisiana State University.
The book includes data and results related to environmental concerns regarding potential harm of nitrate pollution of groundwater. Through research the N’guessan examines consumer willingness to pay for nitrate-reduced drinking water to derive an estimate average cost people are willing to pay to reduce harmful effects of nitrate pollution which includes blue baby syndrome among children and cancer in adults.
N’guessan hopes to introduce students and educators to the findings on her book to support further scientific research on the topic. An immediate goal is to get the book in libraries and available for students to use as a reference in their studies.
A native of Jamaica, N’guessan has been employed in the FAMU Cooperative Extension Program since 2004. She is responsible for coordinating budgetary activities, including progress and financial reporting and grant proposal writ- ing.
Her long range career goals include earning a doctoral degree in the area of environmental policy or student assessment or maybe a hybrid of both areas. Her future research initiatives may be to examine how varying demography, goods and services might affect the economic impact valuation of nitrate in groundwater. N’guessan hopes also to use her expertise in agricultural sciences in the classroom to benefit of student learning. Ideas for her next book still focus on subject matter in her current work, i.e. the designing of an effective survey instrument to measure the benefits/ damages of environmental amenities/disamenities to encourage program participation.