Sustainable Food System Initiative: Feeding
the World without Eating the World
Liz Kramer, PhD
Professor
Director, Natural Resources Spatial
Analysis Laboratory (NARSAL)
and Sustainable Food System Initiative,
College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, UGA
October 14, 2015 @ 1:00pm
Coverdell Center, Room 175
University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Reception to follow
Dr. Liz Kramer is the founding director of UGA’s Natural Resources Spatial Analysis
(NARSAL) Laboratory in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and is a
Public Service faculty member in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
For almost 20 years NARSAL has been involve in conducting research, training and
outreach in the application of geospatial technology to natural resource management and
planning.
Recently, Liz has added a new challenge in leading the Sustainable Food Systems Initiative
(SFSI) at UGA. SFSI creates a physical and intellectual space for using a systems approach
in 1) conducting interdisciplinary data-driven research that addresses interactions at
multiple scales between food systems, the environment, and human health; 2) engaging
students in interdisciplinary, experiential education; and 3) providing life-long educational
opportunities to consumers and the people that support the food system.
Liz’s recent research involves understanding temporal and spatial dynamics of landscapes
in providing an array of ecosystem services. She has a diverse portfolio of interdisciplinary
research activities, which include projects in agricultural, urban, and natural systems in
areas such as stormwater management, coastal resiliency to climate change, wetland
mitigation and restoration, biodiversity management, and enhancing the role of beneficial
insects in agricultural systems. She holds a BS in Forest Management from Michigan State
University, a Master in Forest Science from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental
Studies and a PhD in Ecology from University of Georgia.