Duncan Hilchey, Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food SystemsDuncan Hilchey is co-director of the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, which publishes JAFSCD, in Keene, New Hampshire. Duncan was raised in Huntsville, Alabama. His degrees are in Agricultural Education (UNH) and City and Regional Planning (Cornell University). Duncan worked for many years at Cornell University in the departments of Agricultural Economics and Development Sociology. In 2009 he left Cornell as a senior extension associate in the Community and Regional Development Institute to launch JAFSCD with his wife and managing editor Amy Christian. In 2015 Duncan founded the North American Food Systems Network. He completed a Fulbright specialist project in France in 2019, evaluating a strategic business planning program for agri-food supply chains. He is currently developing a North American version of the French program, called Agri-food Cluster Resilience and Expansion (ACRE), and is researching the concept of “agricultural heritage areas” based on his previous research funded by the National Geographic Society.
Amy Christian, Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food SystemsAmy Christian is co-director of the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, which publishes JAFSCD, in Keene, New Hampshire. Growing up in New Hampshire, she helped her father produce maple syrup every spring. She attended Wellesley College and then transferred to Cornell University, where she graduated with a B.S. in human service planning. She provided computer support and editing and production of publications as a staff member of two Fortune 500 companies and a national nonprofit housing organization. She then transitioned to a freelance business, editing and producing materials on affordable homeownership. A particularly rewarding project was helping with a new housing counseling curriculum to guide residents of the Gulf region following Hurricane Katrina. As managing editor of JASFCD, she oversees the copy-editing of all articles, manages its websites, works on marketing and social media, and more.
SHAREHOLDER CONSORTIUM CO-CHAIRS
Dr. Laura Witzling, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLaura Witzling has been conducting research at the intersection of communication and food systems for over a decade. She is currently working on projects related to increasing interest in and access to farmers markets. Her interest in food systems research began as an M.S. student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied strategies for communicating about soil lead risks with urban gardeners. Her Ph.D. in mass communications is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she worked on a range of agricultural communication projects, including those about farmers markets and community supported agriculture. As an assistant professor at Iowa State University, she worked with partners to evaluate outreach strategies for agricultural conservation practices.
Dr. Jacob Park, Vermont State University Castleton Campus
Jacob Park is an associate professor, College of Business, Vermont State University Castleton Campus (USA) and visiting professor, Faculty of Business & Economics, University of Johannesburg (South Africa). He specializes in the social and environmental dimensions of innovation, entrepreneurship, and international business, with special expertise and focus on energy, climate change, and food system issues in emerging and developing economies in the Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Caribbean islands regions. He is also IUCN World Conservation Union/Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy's thematic chair of business, best practice, and accountability, and has served as the coordinating lead author of the UN Environment's Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6) report, lead author for the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, and as an expert reviewer for a number of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) publications, including the Sixth Assessment Report.
Dr. Catherine Campbell, University of Florida (AE of Equitable Food Access and Availability)
Catherine Campbell, PhD, MPH, is assistant professor and extension specialist of community food systems in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS). She conducts social science research on food systems to support community health, sustainability, equity, and resilience. Her research focuses on understanding the behavior, motivation, and decision-making of food systems stakeholders—including producers, consumers, and local governments—with a special focus on urban food systems.
Dr. Megan Mucioki, Social Science Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University (AE of Food Sovereignty)
Megan Mucioki is an interdisciplinary researcher with a background in environmental studies, plant science, and ethnoecology. She is now an assistant research professor at the Social Science Research Institute at The Pennsylvania State University. Using community-based participatory research methods, Megan has partnered with communities and a range of stakeholders to address applied challenges, such as food security and sovereignty, sustainability, and environmental change, which are increasingly compromising the well-being of vulnerable populations closely tied to natural environments. Over the past decade she has worked with a range of communities in the U.S., Canada, and East Africa. Her most recent work looks at the impacts of environmental change on Indigenous food systems and culturally significant plant species in the Klamath River Basin and coastal, sub-arctic Alaska.
Dr. Ye Su, Lincoln University of Missouri (AE of Local and Regional Value Chains)
Dr. Ye Su has been an assistant professor in agribusiness at Lincoln University of Missouri since June 2020. She earned her Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri in 2016. Her current research focuses on consumer preference for Missouri local food and Missouri Grown products, producers’ challenges and barriers to participating in the local food market, and the supply chain of the local food system. She is also interested in community development, especially low-income regions, providing services and support to socially disadvantaged and beginning farmers regarding pricing, marketing, and risk management.
Dr. Jelili Adebiyi, Northern Michigan University (AE of Sustainable Production)
Dr. Jelili Adebiyi is an interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner who draws on systems thinking, mixed methods, and participatory approaches to model and understand decision-making, inform policy formulation, and to advance solutions to messy and complex agrifood, environmental, climate, energy, and socio-ecological problems. Dr Adebiyi’s scholarship also seeks to close research-extension loop. Dr. Adebiyi’ past research includes a Bill-Gate Foundation funded-research project and work with United Nations Development Programs (UNDP) and stakeholders in Africa. Dr. Adebiyi is currently co-leading a research project, which is assessing buyer requirements for produce safety standards in the United States, and another project, which is exploring the risk of Listeria contamination during apple storage.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT
Elizabeth Dean, Geneva, Ohio (Associate Editor of Outreach and Engagement)
Elizabeth is a voraciously curious and compassionate advocate who believes that equity and advocacy are fundamental for long-term change, and that in order for us to build a just and meaningful food system we must first confront the systemic oppression, exclusion, and exploitation of our modern neoliberal paradigm. Elizabeth received her master's in food policy from the University of London and is now working in food systems in Geneva, Ohio.
Bryan Sobel
Bryan brings wide experience as a systems practitioner in program implementation, production agriculture, research, and extension. While working on his master's degree at Cornell University, he focused on the connection between public health messaging and small farm enterprise viability. Bryan spent nearly a decade working in international development program implementation that included long-term stays in Haiti, Senegal, and Bangladesh. His work has focused on the public health impacts of food systems, including food safety, integrated pest management, innovative communication technologies, micronutrients, and agroecology.
Evelyn Reilly, Research Project Specialist, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable
Evelyn Reilly is a research project specialist at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. She works with Green Lands Blue Waters, a consortium focused on increasing the adoption of Continuous Living Cover agriculture throughout the Upper Midwest, and with KernzaCAP, a USDA-funded project focused on developing Kernza perennial grain. Before working at the U of M, she gained experience in various sectors of the food system by working as a cook, cheesemonger, and freelance writer. Evelyn has a B.S. in Food Systems and an M.S. in Applied Plant Sciences from the U of M. When not working, Evelyn enjoys spending time with family, bird watching, and reviewing single-origin chocolate.
See JAFSCD's Author Mentor Bios
See JAFSCD's Consulting Editor Bios
Dr. Matthew Hoffman
Matthew Hoffman received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Rural Sociology from Cornell University and is currently an ssistant professor at Previously, Hoffman was a visiting scholar at the Norwegian Centre for Rural Research and a faculty member at the University of Southern Maine and in the Food Studies Program at New York University. His research .
REVIEWERS
Numbering over 150, JAFSCD reviewers include scholars, researchers, graduate students, and academic and nonprofit organization staffers from around the world. All are dedicated to helping us cultivate and reap our four-season crop of high-quality applied research. To qualify as a reviewer, they must have expertise or experience in one or more of the food system domains: production, distribution, and consumption. See our roster of JAFSCD reviewers.
Dr. Jennifer Marshman
Jennifer has a Ph.D. in Human Geography from the Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she works as sessional faculty and a curriculum developer. Her background as a Registered Nurse, with specializations in infection prevention and control and cardiology, allows her to bring a truly interdisciplinary lens to her research in inclusive and sustainable food systems. Jennifer has undertaken community-based, participatory, action-oriented research in Canada and China. Her doctoral work studied food systems through a multispecies approach to urban political ecology and the environmental humanities. Jennifer animates a whole-of-community perspective in her teaching and community engagement, with an emphasis on foregrounding radical alternatives to existing neoliberal food systems and social processes.
Dr. Keith Williams
Keith is the Director of Research and Social Innovation at First Nations Technical Institute, a postsecondary institution located on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory in southern Ontario, Canada. Keith has family roots in Tyendinaga and has a Ph.D. (Educational Studies) at St. Francis Xavier University. Keith is interested in rediscovering a kind of continental citizenship by cultivating intimate intrapersonal relationships with the food and medicine plants of Turtle Island.
Dr. Tricia Jenkins, Kansas State University (Chair of O&E Circle)
Tricia has a Ph.D. in horticulture and a graduate certificate in urban food systems from Kansas State University. Her doctoral work focused on the postharvest quality and nutrition of locally grown tomatoes. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Urban Food System Master’s Specialization Program at Kansas State University. In this role, Tricia teaches M.S. food systems courses, coordinates a farming apprenticeship extension program, and conducts research as part of a team of multidisciplinary food system faculty. Her research interests include sustainable urban food production and distribution, the multifunctionality of urban agriculture, and food system sustainability assessment.
Dr. Fallys Masambuka-KanchewaFallys is a Malawian science communication and community development specialist. She holds a Ph.D. in agricultural communication with a focus on international development and a minor in rural sociology from The Ohio State University. She has a master's in agricultural communication from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural extension from Bunda College of Agriculture in Malawi. Her research focuses on the study of communication as a science for understanding people’s behavior. Specifically, she explores the use of communication as an empowerment tool for amplifying the voices of the marginalized.
Manoj received his BSc degree in Agriculture Science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, in 2017. He recently graduated with M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics) from the Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal, in 2020. His research interests are mainly focused in the areas of value chain development, poverty alleviation, and food security. He has published articles in journals such as the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, International Journal of Applied Science and Biotechnology, and Acta Scientific Agriculture.
Dr. Mapuana Antonio
Dr. Mapuana Antonio is a Native Hawaiian Assistant Professor, with a joint position in Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health at the Office of Public Health Studies and in Human Nutrition at the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences. Dr. Mapuana’s research interests include the general health and resilience of Native Hawaiians, determinants of health of Native Hawaiians and Indigenous Peoples, community-based participatory research, and chronic disease prevention (including obesity and diabetes prevention).
FORMER AUTHOR SUPPORT EDITORS
Dr. Paivi Abernethy
Paivi Abernethy is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, BC, Adjunct Professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, and a Climate Change & Health Specialist with the First Nations Health Authority in British Columbia, Canada. She has been working as a practitioner and researcher on food systems as part of sustainable healthy community development with Indigenous and rural communities since 2005. Paivi has master's degrees in social and natural sciences from the universities of Lancaster, England, and Copenhagen, Denmark. She also has years of experience working as a scientist and as a public health practitioner. Paivi's Ph.D. in Social and Ecological Sustainability (University of Waterloo) focused on bridging different ways of knowing and integrating health and sustainability for better policy development and decision-making. Paivi has been supporting the JAFSCD team in various roles since 2010.
Stacey Foster
Stacey Foster has been an English instructor at Pine Technical & Community College within the MinnState System in Minnesota since 2008. Her areas of teaching include entry-level and advanced college writing, technical writing, literature, creative writing, and college readiness. In other roles, she has edited graduate-level theses, undergraduate student writing, and creative writing. She is a published poet and writer of creative nonfiction. In addition, she is a self-defined environmental advocate who utilizes her teaching platform as a way to spread consciousness. She volunteers with environmental organizations such as the Women’s Environmental Institute, Farm Table Foundation, and the Natural Heritage Project; for the latter two, she has written awarded grants. She participates in many professional development events, such as writing and environmentally focused conferences and courses. Her passion for living within awareness also comes through in her organic gardening, influenced by permaculture design and biodynamic growing.
Steven McCutcheon Rubio
Steven is a doctoral student in Development Studies at Cornell University whose work focuses on agrarian change and rural social movements in Latin America. Steven earned an MA in Food Studies–Food Systems from New York University and a BA in Comparative Literature from Princeton University.
Our work/study students and interns have skills and enthusiasm that benefit the Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems and JAFSCD. We very much appreciate the time and energy they've shared with us.
Lila Davis, Academic Year 2025–26 Work/Study
Charlotte Hastings, Academic Year 2025–26 Work/Study
Makyia Turner-Kellam, Summer 2025 Work/Study
Daniel Jung, Academic Year 2024–25 Work/Study
Claudine Miller, Academic Year 2023–24 and Summers 2023 and 2024
Daniela Vaynshtok, Summer 2023 and Academic Year 2023–24
Adin Choung, Summer 2023
Lisa Quainoo, Summer 2022 and Academic Years 2022–23 and 2024–25 Work/Study Student
Javier Ramirez, 2018–19, 2019-20, and Summer 2020 Work/Study Student
Michelle Shin, 2015–19 Work/Study Student
Michelle Shin is in the class of 2019 at Cornell University in the College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Biology and Society with a concentration in environmental justice. Having lived next to Milwaukee, Wisconsin—the most segregated city in the U.S.—for most of her life, she has become very interested in social justice, food systems, and sustainability. She feels honored to be able to work with the Lyson Center and JAFSCD to help address these problems. Michelle fact-checks paper references, writes briefs, and assists with other editorial work.
Anna Delwiche, 2018–19 Work/Study Student
Anna Delwiche is a member of the class of 2019 at Cornell University in the College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Government, French, and Classics. A proud Baltimore native, she is interested in issues of social justice and plans to pursue a career in public policy in the future. She is excited to work for the Lyson Center and JAFSCD and explain her knowledge of food systems and sustainability. She assists with checking references and other editorial work.
Anna Ravenelle, 2015-16 and 2016-17 Work/Study Student
Anna Ravenelle is an English major in the class of 2017 at Cornell University. She has always been passionate about social justice, but working with the Lyson Center has instilled in her a particular interest in food-system issues. She copy-edits paper submissions for JAFSCD and assists with other editorial work as needed.
Michael Glanzel, 2016-17 Work/Study Student
Michael Glanzel is a Cornell University junior majoring in Government and History in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is interested in federal and state policy revolving around issues of food production and distribution. He assists JAFSCD with editorial submissions and database organization.
Carolyn Pascale, 2016 Work/Study Student
Carrie Pascale is a Cornell University junior majoring in Spanish. She is interested in social science research and has recently become invested in food issues and intersectional social justice issues. She assists JAFSCD with editing submissions and writing briefs, and also manages the journal's social media presence.
Shreya Mathur, 2014–15 Work/Study Student
Shreya is a Cornell University freshman planning to major in Biological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is enthusiastic about food sciences research and its use for public service. She has worked in university laboratories and is co-author of two peer-reviewed papers. She is assisting with fact-checking paper references, writing briefs, and other editorial work.
Sonia Banegas, Spring 2014 Work/Study Student
Sonia, Cornell class of 2015, received a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her most recent experience was working in the office of the Bronx Borough President in New York City as a policy and communication intern. She also served as an intern for the NYC Law Department in Bronx Family Court. Sonia helped JAFSCD with the production process by reviewing reference lists of accepted papers and by preparing research and policy briefs for selected papers.
Tracy Lerman, 2013–14 Volunteer Writer
Tracy is a sustainable food systems advocate, researcher, and writer. She recently completed a master's degree in Community Development from UC Davis, where her research focused on local and regional food system development and small farm viability. She has worked in sustainable agriculture and food systems policy advocacy since 2003, at the Organic Farming Research Foundation and other California-based nonprofits. She is based out of New York's Hudson Valley, where her husband is the farm manager at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project. She helped to extend JAFSCD's usefulness to practitioners and policy-makers by writing research and policy briefs for selected papers.
Brian Endo, Spring 2014 Work/Study Student
Brian Endo is in the class of 2016 at Cornell University in the College of Agriculture and Life Science's Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. Interested in entrepreneurship, he co-founded TauntSF, a clothing company in San Francisco, and Avansa Inc., a nonprofit that helps underprivileged students get the same opportunities as any other students. Since arriving at Cornell from his hometown of Fremont, California, he has developed an energy-saving plan that could save Cornell $1,800 annually and served as a research assistant. He participates in several investments-related clubs, the Cornell Filipino Association, and Cornell Poker Club. He assisted JAFSCD with web research and website optimization.
Jack Hilchey, Summers 2012 and 2013 Intern
Jack graduated in the class of 2015 from Emory University in Atlanta, with a major in visual arts and minor in architectural studies. In 2020 he graduated with a masters in architecture from Rice University in Houston. With excellent writing and editing skills, Jack has proof-read papers and helped those not written by native English speakers to be more clear and polished. He has also done web-based research and database work for the Journal.
Tomas Möller-Holtkamp, Summer 2012 Intern
A native of Chile, Tomas received a master's in regional planning (MRP) with a concentration in community and economic development at Cornell University through a Fulbright scholarship. He has a personal interest in food systems growing out of his family's agricultural background; his father runs a food distribution firm in Santiago. Tomas spent his JAFSCD internship greatly extending the usefulness of our proprietary Progressive Ag Rankings by converting the data to the mapping system StatSilk. Now renamed the Progressive Agriculture Data Analyst, it allows an amazing level of user manipulation to show progressive ag indices for county, state, regional, and user-defined areas.
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General Inquiries: info@lysoncenter.org
Editor in Chief: duncan@lysoncenter.org
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The Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development is published by the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems, a project of the Center for Transformative Action (a nonprofit affiliate of Cornell University). JAFSCD is published with the support of our organizational and library shareholders, and our annual partners:
