Education: Ph.D. in Economics, Iowa State University (2021); M.S. in Labor Economics (2016) and B.S. in Logistics (2013), Central University of Finance and Economics.

Xibo Wan is a Research Assistant Professor at the Agricultural Risk Policy Center at North Dakota State University. His research interests include environmental and resource economics, food and agricultural policy, urban and regional economics, and human mobility.

His work uses human mobility data and applied economic methods to examine how environmental conditions and public policies affect recreation, consumer behavior, and communities. His research covers water quality, outdoor recreation, food markets, and the economic effects of environmental risks. He also leads a USDA-funded project examining agritourism demand, competition, and rural impacts using big data and machine learning.

Before joining NDSU in 2026, Xibo held postdoctoral appointments in the University of Connecticut’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (2023–2026) and at MIT’s Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research (2021–2023).