College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences

Meredith T. Niles, PhD

Assistant Professor

Meredith Niles is an assistant professor and faculty with the UVM Food Systems Program. Meredith examines food systems sustainability and policy with a focus on food security and climate change and farmer behavior and policy perceptions. Meredith thrives conducting applied research that can help bring together diverse stakeholders- whether on a farm or working with policymakers- to help solve pressing problems facing our world's food system. Meredith is a passionate advocate for open access research to make research more publicly available to maximize the potential of science and its benefits for society.

Publications

Chriest, A.†, and M.T. Niles. Role of community social capital for acute food security following an extreme weather event. Rural Sociology. 64: 80-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.09.019
Bevet, S.†, Niles, M.T., Pope, L. (2018). You can’t “nudge” nuggets: An investigation of late night dining with behavioral economics interventions. PLOS ONE. 13 (5): e0198162 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198162
Conrad, Z., Niles, M.T., Neher, D., Roy, E., Tichenor, N., Jahns, L. (2018). Relationship between food waste, diet quality, and environmental sustainability. PLOS ONE. 13(4): e0195405 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0195405
Niles, M.T., and J. Salerno. (2018). A cross country analysis of climate shocks on smallholder food insecurity. PLOS ONE. 13(2): e0192928. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192928
Niles, M.T., Ahuja, R., Barker, T., Esquivel, J., Gutterman, S., Heller, M., Mango, N., Portner, D., Raimond, R., Tirado, C., Vermeulen, S. (2018). Climate change mitigation beyond agriculture: A review of food system opportunities and implications. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 1-12. doi:10.1017/S1742170518000029
Schattman, R., Roesch-McNally, G., Wiener, S., Niles, M.T., Hollinger, D. (2018). Farm service agency employee intentions to use weather and climate data in professional services. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 1-10. doi:10.1017/S1742170517000783
Niles, M.T., Garrett, R., Walsh, D*. (2018). Ecological and economic benefits and challenges for integrating sheep into viticulture production. Published online December 19, 2017. Agronomy for Sustainable Development. 38: 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-017-0478-y
Kross, S., Ingram, K.†, Long, R., Niles, M.T. (2018). Farmer perceptions and behaviors related to wildlife and on-farm conservation actions. Conservation Letters. 11:e12364. doi:10.1111/conl.12364
Niles, M.T., and Brown, M. (2017). A multi-country assessment of factors related to smallholder food security in varying rainfall conditions. Scientific Reports. 7:16277
Niles, M.T. and Courtney Hammond-Wagner. Farmers seek local solutions for California water management and the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. (2017). Published online September 8, 2017.Special issue of California Agriculture on “California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act”. https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2017a0040
Garrett, R., Niles, M.T, Gil, J., Gaudin, A., Chaplin-Kramer, B., Assman, A., Assman, T., Brewer, K., de Faccio Carvalho, P.C., Cortner, O., Dynes, R., Garbach, K., Kebreab, E., Mueller, N., Reis, J. C., Snow, V.,Valentim, J. (2017). Social and ecological analysis of integrated crop livestock systems: Current knowledge and remaining uncertainty. Agricultural Systems, 155: 136-146.
Kross, S., Ingram, K., Long, R., Niles, M.T. (2017). Drivers of farmer perceptions of wildlife and on-farm conservation actions. Published online April 24, 2017. Conservation Letters. DOI: 10.1111/conl.12364
Garrett, R., Niles, M.T., Gil, J., Dy, P., Ferreira, J., Reis, J., Valentim, J. (2017). Re-integrating crop and livestock systems: A comparative policy analysis. Sustainability, 9: 473.
Niles, M.T. and N. Mueller. (2016). Farmer perceptions of climate change: Associations with observed temperature and precipitation trends, irrigation, and climate beliefs. Global Environmental Change, 39: 133-142.
Niles, M.T., Brown, M., Dynes, R. (2016). Farmer's intended and actual adoption of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Climatic Change, 135: 277-295.
Prokopy, L., Arbuckle, J., Barnes, A. Haden, V.R. Hogan, A, Niles, M.T., Tyndall, J. (2015). Farmers and climate change: A cross-national comparison of belief and risk perceptions in developed countries. Environmental Management, 56: 492-504