We are delighted to announce that the next Australasian Agri-Food Research Network conference will be held in Hobart/nipaluna, Tasmania/lutrawita from December 4-7, 2023.
Hosted by the University of Tasmania, the theme of the conference is: Place-Based Agri-Food Systems in a Time of Climate Crisis: Resilience, Resistance and Regeneration. As with previous conferences, there will be a pre-conference field trip on Monday December 4, a trivia night, and a conference dinner.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia, has two postdoctoral fellowship opportunities based in Brisbane, Queensland.
The fellowships will be within the CSIRO-UQ Food System Horizons Initiative. The overarching vision of the Food System Horizons Initiative is to help build a new and better-informed national conversation on food system transformation that is inclusive of different stakeholder visions, ambitions, and values, and identifies a range of solution pathways to Australia’s food system futures.
To find out more about the positions, please click on the opportunity titles below. Applications closing soon!
Washington State University (WSU) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (Social Scientist) to work on a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI).
The project focuses on plastic mulch end-of-life management decisions among strawberry growers in California in order to better understand the factors that help or hinder growers’ adoption of more sustainable practices (e.g., polyethylene mulch recycling) and technologies (e.g., biodegradable plastic mulches) that can help address the growing problem of agricultural plastic pollution.
The Postdoctoral Research Associate will work as part of the Human Dimensions Working Group headed by Dr. Jessica Goldberger (Rural Sociologist) in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. Responsibilities include conducting qualitative research with diverse stakeholders, conducting survey research, preparing project reports and manuscripts, delivering oral presentations, and other duties as needed.
Required qualifications include a PhD in rural sociology, sociology, anthropology, or closely related field; experience with qualitative research methods; experience with survey research; strong analytical skills, willingness to travel to California, project meetings, and conferences; ability to work independently; interest in agriculture, diffusion of innovations, the environment, and/or sustainability; excellent organizational and project management skills; and excellent written and oral communication skills. The primary location of the position is WSU’s Pullman campus. Start date: July 1, 2023 (negotiable).
To apply, please submit a cover letter, current CV, copies of academic transcripts, writing sample, and names and contact information for three professional references via the WSU job portal. Applicant screening will begin on January 15, 2023 and continue until a suitable candidate is identified. For more information about this position, please contact Dr. Jessica Goldberger or call +1 (509) 335-8540. WSU is an EEO/AA/ADD employer.
The aim of this workshop is to support early-career researchers in agri-food from the Middle East (or working on the region, including Turkey and Iran) in moving their papers for successful publication in international journals in English. The objective is to provide feedback on the works-in progress (i.e., constructive feedback on draft papers), and advise the authors on some strategies to adopt for publishing.
Submit your applications by November 10, 2022: short bio (up to 200 words), a CV (including published work), and abstract (up to 400 words) of a paper proposition focusing on contemporary agri-food issues sent by email to Cynthia Gharios.
• Applications are welcome from early-career agri-food researchers (PhD candidates or researchers within five years since achieving PhD)
• Priority will be given to those who have not yet managed to publish a paper in high-impact international journals.
• Priority will be given to non-native English language researchers and researchers from the region.
Successful applications will be notified by November 15th, 2022, and full papers (in English, 6,000 – 9,000 words) are expected by January 6th, 2023.
Authors will receive written comments from advisors and other authors, and an online workshop will take place with all early-careers and advisors on January 20th 2023
The University of Montana Environmental Studies (EVST) Program invites applications for a tenure track position at the assistant professor level, beginning in August 2023. They seek an interdisciplinary community-engaged scholar, inspiring teacher, and effective mentor with expertise in climate equity, resilience, and policy to join their dynamic civically-engaged community of faculty and students.
Please visit the job listing to learn more about the position and how to apply. Priority applications due by Nov. 13 2022.
Bill Pritchard (University of Sydney) and Amelie Bernzen (University of Vechta, Germany) are planning a (closed) Special Session on “New pathways for multifunctional rural regions” for the 2023 RSA Annual Conference in Ljubliana, Slovenia which will take place from 14-17 June 2023. The overarching conference theme is “Transforming Regions: Policies and Planning for People and Places”. They are seeking expressions of interest from interested scholars working on this topic who would like to contribute. Their aim would further be to develop a Special Issue for a peer reviewed journal based on the Session’s papers. Please find the session abstract below and email Bill Pritchard by 31 October if you are interested in participating.
Presentation title and abstracts are due by 30 November 2022.
Special Session Abstract:
New pathways for multifunctional rural regions The multifunctional rural transition is a core idea in regional studies. Particularly in structurally disadvantaged rural areas, policy makers have been pursuing approaches for integrated rural development, which assume that increasing multifunctionality has a positive effect on regional futures. While the concept of multifunctionality itself is thus not new, the challenges and intensity of pressures over recent years in these spaces have initiated new rounds of restructuring: energy transitions (gaining speed in the light of the Ukraine war), climate change adaptation, a ruralisation of business activity through online commerce and work-from-home opportunities, the effects of pandemic restrictions on tourism, and food system changes including shifts in diets and fluctuating food prices, among others. While acknowledging the increasing heterogeneity of “rural spaces”, the aim of this session is to examine differences and commonalities in how multifunctional rural regions have responded to these pressures, with a view to identifying key themes relevant to their future condition.
A one-year, full-time research associate position is available at the Queensland University of Technology (part-time arrangements available as well). The Research Associate will join a dynamic research group dedicated to decision science and social-ecological systems research, looking to empower communities and governments to make more sustainable choices about agricultural production and food consumption. The position is open immediately, and would ideally suit someone with experience in social sciences methodologies and data management, and interests in research that links people and their practices with environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation.
The primary purpose of the position is to contribute to two Australian Research Council projects focused on the environmental sustainability of agricultural systems. The two projects are:
• ‘Pathways to agri-food supply chains that co-benefit people and nature’ within the School of Biology & Environmental Science and the Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy (led by Ayesha Tulloch); and
• ‘The local, regional and global human networks influencing adoption of sustainable practices in food production systems’ within the School of Architecture and Built Environments and the Centre for the Environment (led by Dr Angela Guerrero-Gonzalez).
There is an exciting opportunity available for a PhD scholarship in the resilience of urban food systems with Professor Sarah Bell, City of Melbourne Chair in Urban Resilience and Innovation at the University of Melbourne, co-supervised by Dr Rachel Carey. Applications are due on 31 October.
The 2022 Aristologist Symposium is on Saturday-Sunday 26-27 November 2022 at Te Manawa Museum in Te Papaioea Palmerston North, Aoteoroa New Zealand.
The New Zealand Symposia are informal meetings of amateur, academic and professional gastronomers, exploring specific topics of significance to eating, drinking, cooking and food production. It is open to all with an interest in food, its creation and history.
The 2022 Symposium of Gastronomy has, as its theme, Refreshment – refreshing foods, ideas and liquids that sustain us, enliven our palates and bring us together socially. From breakfast through to digestifs, ‘refreshment’ is a wide concept offering many perspectives for dreaming, discussion and debate.
Usually 20 minutes in duration, organisers also welcome short 5-10 minute snippets, longer presentations (according to need), and practical demonstrations relating to food/drink. A short descriptive abstract of the intended presentation should be sent as soon as possible to Juliet Galuszka. If accepted for presentation, a final abstract will requested for inclusion in the Symposium programme, several weeks prior to the meeting. A digital copy of the full paper, in a suitable print format, will be requested after your presentation for archival publication in the Aristologist. Audio-visual requirements and presentation length will be discussed with you upon receipt of the preliminary abstract.
Stefan Ouma and collaborators are proud to present the website to their institutional landscapes project. A Shiny APP for Aotearoa New Zealand has also been created and can be accessed through this link.
To quote Stefan in his message to agri-fooders,
This is also a call to other researchers to contribute to this space as guest writers. The websites and the book move between a global outlook and situated accounts, generated primarily in the geographical settings of Aotearoa New Zealand and Tanzania. Such a project eventually reaches its limits. Once we treat farmland investments as “boundary objects” to which scholars contribute from different geographical, theoretical, and methodological angles, this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is rather an invitation to different scholars to assemble the rich insights they have generated on the finance-driven land rush through their own research since 2007/08 in one dedicated space in a reflective manner. A particular focus will be put on emerging perspectives in a fast-changing field, where sometimes assumptions and statements made in the past hold no longer true in the present; where just another crisis or government regulation has crashed the dreams of investors; where suddenly AG tech and not farmland is heralded as the most promising new “asset class”, or where methodological advances now suddenly allow us to account in more granular ways about trends and investment footprints in the ‘AG space’. It is also a chance for scholars to revisit their own (past) research in light of recent advances in debates and research findings. We will offer fellow researchers exposure on the platform, as well as graphic design services in case you would like to contribute figures or photos. Over the coming months (and years?), we plan to curate posts on the following themes:
I will reach out to many of your over the coming months. We shall start with theme 1. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the website.
Agri-Food Research Network 