Food Systems Modelling Tools for Assessing Sustainability in Food and Agriculture

Christian J. Peters is a scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service where he leads the Food Systems Research Unit. Prior to joining USDA in 2021, Dr. Peters served on the faculty of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University teaching primarily in the Agriculture, Food, and Environment program. His research interests lie in the developing field of sustainability science, in the area of food systems. Within this broad, trans-disciplinary field, Dr. Peters currently focuses on three major topics: (1) Sustainability implications of dietary choices, (2) Land requirements of food consumption and carrying capacity of agricultural land resources, and (3) Production potential of local and regional food systems. Some of Dr. Peters' most well-known work include spatial analyses of potential local foodsheds and models of the carrying capacity of New York State and the conterminous U.S. Dr. Peters received his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Soil and Crop Sciences from Cornell University and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences from Rutgers University.
Dawn Thilmany is a Professor with Colorado State University, serving in that role since 1997, and specializes in economic development related to local, organic and other value-added food market segments, as well as food market analysis and consumer behavior. She is co-Director for CSU's Regional Economic Development Institute, is on the leadership team for CSU Extension Food Systems program and has been a visiting scholar at both the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture and Economic Research Service. She has chaired the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council and served on the US Dept of Agriculture's Advisory Board on Research, Extension, Education and Economics. She has also served in leadership positions with the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, the Western Agricultural Economics Association, the Food Distribution Research Society and several regional research committees.