Projects and Programs
Starting in 2020, INFAS began organizing initiatives mainly via working groups. We also have been part of leading several graduate fellowship programs to help invest in the diversity of people and paradigms in US food systems research.
You can also browse our other special projects and publications and other products from our work.
Working Groups Graduate Fellowship Programs Special Projects
Working Groups
Each working group has a small annual budget to help seed and catalyze action. Working group chairs also serve on the INFAS Executive Committee. If you're an INFAS member interested in joining one of our working groups, please reach out to our coordinator at infas.coordinator@gmail.com or each of the individual working group chairs.
Education Working Group
The Education Working Group is the home to our CISC-INFAS HBCU fellowship program (CHFP). This past fall INFAS chair, Dr. Brandy Phipps, and Education chair, Lindsey Lunsford, along with several mentees and mentors from CHFP, lead a panel workshop at the 2024 University of Vermont Food Systems Research Summit. CHFP recently partnered with StoryCollab allowing fellows to elevate their voices and experiences through community-rooted storytelling. The working group is currently strategizing to secure long-term support for these fellowships.
Chair: Lindsey Lunsford, Tuskegee University’s Cooperative Extension. (Committee term: 2023-2026) llunsford@tuskegee.edu
Justice Working Group
The Justice Working Group has been working on a project to document higher education institutions’ (HEIs) land-grab universities truth and reconciliation strategies (or lack thereof) with Native American tribes and communities. The working group hired researcher, Ashley Babcock, to assist with this project and is in the process of drafting a manuscript on their findings.
Chair: Rachael Budowle, Virginia Tech Honors College. (Committee term: 2023-2026) rbudowle@vt.edu
Organizational Development Working Group
Stemming from work related to their 2021/2022 webinar series, "Resilient Centers and Institutes", the Organizational Development Working Group just published the piece, "Resilience strategies for centers and institutes focused on food systems transformation" in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. The group also developed a brief summarizing their recommendations for organizational resilience and a directory of sustainable agriculture/food system related centers and institutes throughout the U.S. The directory is now available on our website: INFAS Center and Institute Directory.
In addition, the group is continuing work with researcher, Erin Lowe, to analyze the database in the context of the history of the movement and identify structural administrative challenges we face in higher education when working with community partners, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Nations and Tribal Colleges.
Chair: Michelle Miller, University of Wisconsin - Madison (Committee term 2018 -2026); mmmille6@wisc.edu
Research Working Group
The INFAS Research Working Group has been working on multiple research, editorial and publication projects this year. Please contact Albie Miles for additional details: albie@hawaii.edu.
i. A Dialog of Wisdoms: Revitalizing Indigenous & Traditional Ecological Knowledge & Practice in Post-Secondary Sustainable Food Systems Education (Submission Open). The primary objective of this special research topic is to explore the opportunities and challenges of integrating I/TEK and practice in higher education for sustainable food systems. Specifically, this RT aims to: survey the status of I/TEK integration for sustainable food systems in higher education, describe opportunities and challenges of integrating I/TEK in higher education systems, quantity the benefits of I/TEK in higher education for sustainable food systems, and provide case studies and recommendations for integrating I/TEK in higher education for sustainable food systems. Topic Editors: Drs. Mathew Kekoa Lau (INFAS), Noa Kekuewa Lincoln (INFAS), Brandy E. Phipps (INFAS), and Ahmed Siddig. Please contact Matthew Lau for details: mklau3@hawaii.edu.
ii. Measuring Sustainability in Food Systems: Advancing Scientific Indicator and Metric Systems for Monitoring Progress Towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Submission Open Fall 2024). The primary objective of this RT is to address the critical gap in scientific indicators and metric systems for tracking progress toward a range of food system sustainability goals. The RT aims to present current theory, research methodologies, findings and case studies on the development of scientific sustainability measurement systems and monitoring frameworks in food systems aligned with the 17 UN SDGs. This research will contribute both to the academic discourse, and provide practical insights for policymakers, businesses, and civil society to foster transformative change towards healthy, equitable, resilient and ecologically sustainable food systems. Topic Editors: Drs. Albie Miles (INFAS) and Konstantinos Zougris (INFAS). Please contact Albie Miles if you are interested in serving as an associate editor for this RT: albie@hawaii.edu.
Chair: Albie Miles, University of Hawai'i, West O'ahu. (Committee term 2019 - 2026); albie@hawaii.edu