The University of Vermont is pleased to announce the appointment of Polly Ericksen, Ph.D., as the inaugural director of the Food Systems Research Center, a collaborative partnership between UVM and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS). An internationally known expert in agricultural development and sustainability, Ericksen will oversee operations and provide critical leadership as the center grows as a hub for local and regional food systems research across the Northeast.
“Our Food Systems Research Center is poised to make deeply impactful contributions to local and global agricultural development in the face of complex challenges of sustainably feeding a growing global population, especially in the face of climate change,” said UVM President Suresh Garimella. “I’m so pleased we have an experienced scholar and leader like Dr. Ericksen on board to work with our innovative faculty and students to help realize solutions that make immediate impact in the lives and livelihoods of so many, in Vermont and across the globe.”
For more than two decades, Ericksen has worked at the nexus of research and development relating to agriculture, food systems and climate change across Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. She joins UVM after having spent the past nine years as the program leader for sustainable livestock systems with the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya where she led a research program of more than 40 staff across East and West Africa and South Asia and managed an annual budget of $10 to $15 million.
“Dr. Ericksen’s deep experience and know-how will position UVM’s Food Systems Research Center to not only have significant local impact but to also become a transformative center for the country,” said Leslie Parise, dean of the UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, which serves as the campus home for the center.
Ericksen has been recognized as an early pioneer in the field of food systems research and is a seminal scholar using interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex food systems issues in the context of global environmental change. She has spent much of her career working across disciplines to link science with development policy and resource mobilization.
“It is an honor to be the inaugural director of the newly established center and to work in partnership with USDA ARS staff,” said Ericksen. “UVM has an established history of food systems research, and I am excited about the opportunity to bring my skills to bear on a local and regional level, sharing all that I’ve learned from my international experience. I am especially motivated by the center’s focus on small and medium sized food systems, as well as environmental and social equity outcomes.”
Ericksen holds a Ph.D. in Soil Science, an M.S. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a B.A. in History from Swarthmore College. She brings extensive leadership and management skills to the research center, as well as expertise on the impacts of climate change on agriculture, natural resource management, disease, and social equity.
The Food Systems Research Center was established in 2019 with funding secured by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to support a research center focused on local and regional food systems in Vermont and the Northeast. The center works in conjunction with the USDA ARS and is the first ARS research station to focus on small and medium sized farms and processors that comprise local and regional food systems. In May, UVM’s Board of Trustees approved a major renovation of the Joseph L. Hills Agricultural Science Building on the UVM campus, the future home of the center.
Ericksen’s appointment concludes an international search for a director who will lead the way in helping to create more sustainable food systems locally, regionally and internationally. Ericksen will officially join UVM this December.
