Special Projects and Collaborations

INFAS Special Projects

Current Special Projects

  • In early 2025, INFAS introduced the Junior INFAS Scholarship Program led by Research Chair Albie Miles. The initiative helps support underrepresented scholars, junior faculty, and Ph.D. students within the INFAS network publish peer-reviewed manuscripts in fields of Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. More about eligibility and application process can be found here. 

Past INFAS Projects and Collaborations

2024

  • INFAS Education Chair Lindsey Lunsford and Executive Committee Chair Brandy Phipps co-led with University of Vermont’s, Allison Spain, the breakout session "Harvesting Potential: Developing Leaders for a Sustainable Food System” at the 2024 UVM Food Systems Research Summit. Alongside several CHFP fellows and mentors, they facilitated discussions aimed at cultivating the next generation of food systems leaders.
  • The Organizational Development Working Group published, "Resilience strategies for centers and institutes focused on food systems transformation", in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.
  • The INFAS EC conducted the INFAS Strategic Storytelling Project focused on capturing and documenting the history of INFAS, outlining its transformation over time, and identifying future directions/goals for the organization.
  • The Organizational Development Working Group created the INFAS Directory of U.S. Centers and Institutes working in areas of sustainable agriculture and/or food systems. 

2023

  • The Organizational Development Working Group hosted the webinar, "Maintaining Center Resilience and Stability".
  • INFAS partnered with Story Center to host a workshop on digital storytelling for our tribal fellowship program. Our five current fellows, two mentors, and two fellow alums met once a week over the course of 6-weeks to learn about the art of storytelling and develop their own digital stories. 
  • INFAS collaborated with eOrganic, & USDA NIFA to co-sponsored the JAFSCD Special Section: Fostering Socially and Ecologically Resilient Food and Farm Systems Through Research Networks featured in JAFSCD's Summer 2023, Fall 2023, and Winter 2024 issues. 
  • Led by Rachael Budowle, the Justice Working group published our first special section under our recent partnership with JAFSCD entitled "Justice and Equity Approaches to College and University Student Food (In)Security".
  • Sponsored coordination support for the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association. 
  • INFAS served as a sponsor for the 10th Annual Sustainable Agriculture Education Association (SAEA) Conference held at the Ohio State University and Central State University.
  • upported the visioning and strategic planning process for a UC Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems Consortium/Community of Practice.
  • At-large member Erica Hall helped host a virtual screening for INFAS members of “Rhythms of the Land”, a documentary highlighting and honoring the history of black farmers in America. Director, Dr. Gail Myers, joined the screening for a Q&A session with attendees.

2022

  • Developed and submitted a $20 million dollar proposal, “NextGen Growing Season: preparing BIPOC students to enrich US food and agriculture” application to the USDA’s “Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals (NextGen) funding opportunity. Although unfunded, the reviewers agreed that it was ranked in the top category as “outstanding”.
  • Research Chair, Albie Miles and the Research Working Group supported the Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems Special Issue: Achieving Food System Resilience & Equity in the Era of Global Environmental Change. This included multiple INFAS co-editors and sponsoring four papers by INFAS lead authors. To date this special issue has generated over 152,000 views!
  • Education Chair, Damian Parr and the Education Working Group supported editing the Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems special issue: Critical and Equity-Oriented Pedagogical Innovations in Sustainable Food Systems Education. To date this special issue has generated over 24,000 views!
  • EC at-large member Erica Hall represented INFAS at the Annual Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners (BUGs) national conference in Atlanta, Ga & at the launch of the Inaugural Agroecology Center at Florida A&M University.
  • INFAS sponsored members to attend the Agriculture of the Middle Dinner and Annual Meeting during the in-person Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society Conference in May in Athens, GA.
  • In collaboration with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), INFAS helped host two "Cultivating Research Advocates" discussion sessions.

2021

  • In partnership with the Carver Integrative Sustainability Center (CISC) of Tuskegee University’s College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences, INFAS helped launch the CISC-INFAS pilot HBCU Graduate Fellowship.
  • INFAS began a new partnership with the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD). 
  • INFAS engaged in the UN Food System Summit agenda and “action track” shaping and planning, after having been invited to represent “academia” on an action track focused on equity. Following the summit, INFAS members held a webinar to share their experiences from the Summit. In February 2022, Leslie Hoey, Molly Anderson, & Michelle Miller published  "Debrief on the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS)" in JAFSCD. 
  • INFAS sponsored guest speakers at the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association 2021 Annual Conference.
  • INFAS co-sponsored the JAFSCD Special Issue: "The Impact of COVID-19 on the US Food System".
  • Guided by feedback from its members, INFAS developed it's first official logo.

2020

  • In partnership with the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC), INFAS helped pilot the Food Systems Graduate Tribal Fellowship with supportive 11 Native American graduate students studying Tribal food systems, regenerative agriculture, natural resources, and nutrition.
  • INFAS supported reinvigorating the web-presence of the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association. 

Check in shortly - we are in the process of documenting our working throughout 2010-2020.