Hometown: Oak Park, IL
Educational Background: B.A. from Bowdoin College, double major in Environmental Studies with science concentration, and Anthropology
What Food Systems program track are you on? Research Master's
How did you learn about the Food Systems program and what made you interested in applying? I knew that I wanted to return to graduate school to study food systems, and found UVM, among other schools, through internet searches. It was the systems approach in particular, that interested me about the UVM program, as well as the research being conducted by the food systems faculty.
Tell us more about your educational background and your interests. As an undergraduate, I participated in a study abroad program that traveled to several countries and visited farmers who were struggling under the weight of the globalized agricultural economy. When I returned, I took a senior seminar called Food and Agriculture, in which we took a closer look at the historical development of food systems in the US and globally, and all of the social, economic, and environmental costs of such systems. These experiences ignited my interest in studying food systems and their accompanying problems. Food systems also captured my attention because it comprehensively tied together many of my interests, including social and economic justice, food security, culture and identity, health and nutrition, ecology, climate change, animal ethics, governance and food sovereignty.
How has your educational background and experience prepared you for studying food systems? My undergraduate studies were very multidisciplinary, focusing both on cultural anthropology and environmental science, among other classes. This gave me flexibility of perspective and skillsets to approach the transdisciplinary nature of studying food systems. It allowed me to appreciate looking closely at multiple fields of study while learning how they are tied together in complex ways in the bigger picture.
What are your future career goals? In part, I am still exploring this question, because new types of careers in food systems seem to pop up all the time. I am potentially interested in continuing to do research that can be applied either to policy or to solving problems for particular communities’ food systems.
Have you learned anything in particular, since entering the program that has surprised you? I think I have been most surprised by what we learned in our Science and Policy core class. Namely, the potential problems in the production and dissemination of scientific research, and the complex and problematic processes by which it becomes incorporated into policy.
Please leave us with a fun fact about yourself. I worked for a summer on an organic dairy farm in Wisconsin, where one of my favorite experiences was seeing the Jersey cows being released onto pasture for the first time that spring. I will never forget how they bolted around and jumped up and down like hilarious, excited puppies.