PhD Fellows

The Food Systems Research Institute is proud to fund graduate students at UVM across multiple colleges and departments, all working to answer pressing issues in food systems.

FSRI PhD Fellows engage in meaningful research across a broad spectrum of Vermont and global food systems. Their transdisciplinary studies represent the diversity of food systems, addressing aspects ranging from agricultural practices to human nutrition to the management of food waste. 

Current FSRI PhD Fellows

Ihsan Akili

FSRI PhD Fellow

Cardiometabolic Diseases, Public Health, Epidemiology, Public Health Emergency Response Planning

Jasmine Hart

FSRC PhD Fellow

Plant breeding, genomics, transcriptomics, plant pathology, participatory plant breeding.

Kacey Paige LaBonte

FSRI PhD Fellow

Extreme weather events, public health, farmer behavior, community development

Pindar Yawulda Mbaya

FRSI PhD Fellow

Food insecurity, Food Safety, Vulnerable population (elderly), Chronic diseases of nutritional origin.

Hannah Shafer

FSRI PhD Fellow

Plant biology, evolutionary developmental biology, genetics, temperate grasses/cereal crops

Patrick Shafer

FSRI PhD Fellow

Edible insects, food product development, consumer preference

Sarra Talib

FSRI PhD Fellow • Gund Fellow

Regina Visconti

FSRI PhD Fellow

Intracellular trafficking in Arabidopsis roots