Gund Fellow, Associate Professor, MPA Program Director, Department of Community Development and Applied Economics

Dr. Travis W. Reynolds is an agricultural and applied economist with a background in public policy analysis, rural development, environmental studies, and organic farming. Dr. Reynolds is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics (CDAE) at the University of Vermont, a faculty affiliate of the UVM Food Systems Program, and a faculty member of the Evans School Policy Analysis and Research Group (EPAR) at the University of Washington. For the past decade, Dr. Reynolds has studied relationships between farm management, economic development, and ecosystem services – with an emphasis on poverty alleviation, sustainability, and resilience in low-income smallholder farming communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

With grant funding from the National Science Foundation, USDA, and private and philanthropic organizations, Dr. Reynolds has led teams of international and interdisciplinary scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in applied research at the intersection of agriculture, food security, and the environment. Dr. Reynolds serves on the board of the International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research (ICABR), and his work has been published in top interdisciplinary and agricultural development journals including World Development, Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Agricultural Economics, and Food Security.

Research and/or Creative Works

  • Principal Investigator: “Geographic, Socio-economic, and Cultural Factors Shaping Crop Diversity and Livelihood Outcomes” (National Science Foundation). (2020-2022).
  • Principal Investigator: “Conference Grant for the 24th ICABR Conference: Accelerating Innovations for the Bioeconomy: Applied Research Policy Change and Economic Growth.” (USDA NIFA AFRI). (2019-2020).
  • Principal Investigator: “Changing Climate and Markets in the New England Maple Syrup Sector” (USDA Hatch). (2019-2022).
  • Co-Principal Investigator: “Seed System Diversity and Resilience in New Vermont Farming Communities.”

Publications

Selected

  • Whitehouse*, C, Conner, D, Chase, L, Reynolds, TW. (2023). The experience of Vermont local food businesses during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 12(2), 1-14.
  • Cunningham*, N, Conner, D, Reynolds, TW. (2023). Anchor institutions and food resilience: A Multiple Streams approach. International Journal on Food System Dynamics, 14(2), 134-145.
  • Reynolds, TW, Anderson, CL, Biscaye, P, O’Brien-Carrelli, C, Keel*, J. (2023). Gender, mobile money and financial inclusion: Evidence from eight low- and middle-income countries. Information Technology for Development, 1-28.
  • Wubalem, A, Reynolds, TW, Wodaju, A. (2022). Estimating the recreational use value of Tis-Abay Waterfall in the upstream of the Blue Nile River, North-West Ethiopia. Heliyon, e12410.
  • Shafer*, PJ, Chen, YH, Reynolds, TW, von Wettberg, EJ. (2022). Farm to Institution to Farm: Circular food systems with native entomoculture. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5, 721985.
  • Otieno, G, Zebrowski*, WM, Recha, J, & Reynolds, TW. (2021). Gender and social seed networks for climate change adaptation: Evidence from bean, finger millet, and sorghum seed systems in East Africa. Sustainability, 13(4): 2074-2106.
  • Sahle, M, Saito, O, Reynolds, TW. (2021). Nature’s contributions to people from church forests in a fragmented tropical landscape in southern Ethiopia. Global Ecology and Conservation, e01671.
  • Isbell*, C, Tobin, D, Reynolds, TW. (2021). Motivations for maintaining crop diversity: Evidence from Vermont's seed systems. Ecological Economics, 189: 107-138.
  • Quella*, L, Chase, L, Conner, D, Reynolds, TW, Wang, W, Singh-Knights, D. (2021). Visitors and values: A qualitative analysis of agritourism operator motivations across the US. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development, 10(3): 1-15.
  • Reynolds, TW, Tobin, D, Otieno, G, McCracken*, A, Guo*, J. (2020). Differences in crop selection, resource constraints, and crop use values among female- and male-headed smallholder households in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development. 9(4): 1-28.

Associations and Affiliations

  • ICABR
  • APPAM
  • USSEE
  • ISEE
  • ATBC
  • Gund Institute for the Environment, University of Vermont
  • Diversity Curriculum Review Committee, University of Vermont 
  • Director, Peace Corps Fellows Program, University of Vermont 
  • Director, Peace Corps Coverdell Program, University of Vermont
Gund Faculty Fellow Travis Reynolds

Areas of Expertise and/or Research

Institutional economics, agricultural development, food policy, payments for environmental services, with an emphasis on the links between agriculture, food security, community governance institutions and the environment

Education

  • PhD, Public Policy and Management, University of Washington
  • MS, Community Development and Applied Economics, University of Vermont
  • BA, International Relations and French Civilization, Brown University

Contact

Email:

twreynol@uvm.edu

Phone:
  • 1 802-656-8115
Office Location:

Morrill 204B

Website(s):
  1. UVM Profile
  2. REU Site
  3. Evans School Policy Analysis and Research Group (EPAR)