The CFAES Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Virtual Speaker Series invites distinguised speakers to address a variety of DEI topics related to the disciplines of food, agricultural, and environmental sciences. The speaker series strives to center the voices of people from minoritized populations to advance equity and inclusion within CFAES and our communities. All events are free and open to the public.
Please save the dates so you can join us for all events! All sessions except our special events on Nov. 16 will take place on Zoom from 12:00 pm-1:15 pm EST on the third Thursdays of select months (see schedule below). Each session will involve a presentation and Q&A. See below for titles, descriptions, speaker bios, and registration links. To receive direct communications about upcoming DEI programs, please sign up for the monthly CFAES DEI Newsletter.
2024 Speaker Series Overview (click titles to view details)
DATE |
SPEAKER(S) |
TITLE |
|---|---|---|
| Mar. 21 | Glennon Sweeney | Food Systems Inequity in the United States: How Land Use and Development Policy Drive Food Insecurity in Urban Areas |
| May 16 |
Janice Person |
Cultivating Understanding: Engaging with Opposing Views in Agricultural Discussions |
| Jun. 20 | Joyce Chen | Climate Migration: Human Migration as an Adaptive Response to Climate Change |
| Jul. 18 |
Chad Duplain Cheryl Martinez |
|
| Oct. 17 | LaPorchia Collins |
Contemporary Differences in U.S. Farm Financial Performance by Race: Does Farm Size Matter? |
| Nov. 21 | Natasha Myhal |
Descriptions and Speaker Bios
Food Systems Inequity in the United States: How Land Use and Development Policy Drive Food Insecurity in Urban Areas
March 21, 2024 – 12:00pm-1:15pm ET
Glennon Sweeney
Senior Community Outreach Analyst, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, The Ohio State University
Description:
Focusing on twentieth century land use and development policies, this talk will delve into the intersections of land use/development policy and food justice in metropolitan areas. Touching on issues related to food access, justice, and sovereignty, we will explore how land use policies designed to disenfranchise people of color from property ownership are connected to current conditions in disinvested urban neighborhoods that lack healthy food and safe streets. This talk will connect Black rural land loss with urban disinvestment and apartheid.
About the speaker:
Glennon Sweeney is a senior community outreach analyst at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity whose expertise lies at the intersection of land use and development policy and metropolitan segregation, with an emphasis on suburban spaces and food justice. Glennon works to build strategic partnerships that advance the Kirwan Institute’s community-engaged research strategy and serves in a translational capacity to underserved communities by providing workshops, webinars, and local history tours in order to bring the Institute’s research alive for non-academic communities. Glennon has been at the Kirwan Institute since 2012, serving as a graduate research assistant before becoming part of Kirwan’s research team in 2016. Glennon’s work has been published in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Journal of Planning Literature, and the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, among others. Glennon received her BA in geography and political science as well as her MA in city and regional planning from The Ohio State University. She is currently a PhD candidate in the university’s planning department with expected graduation in 2024.
Click here to watch the replay
Cultivating Understanding: Engaging with Opposing Views in Agricultural Discussions
May 16, 2024 – 12:00pm-1:15pm ET
Janice Person
Grounded Communications
Description:
There used to be rules of engagement that were generally accepted in written communications as well as personal interactions. But reality has shifted and now, any of us can find ourselves in the center of controversy whether it’s from anonymous trolls online or in person with someone who takes issue with things central to our very being. In this interactive talk, Janice Person, an expert in agricultural communication, will share lessons learned when she worked at Monsanto on technologies such as genetically modified organisms that some people found controversial or confusing. Using agricultural communication as an example, Janice will outline ways to approach people who hold divergent views in ways that can make conversations less stressful and even productive.
About the speaker:
For the past decade Janice Person, owner of Grounded Communications, has been building bridges inside agriculture and from ag to the general public. She focuses on public speaking, training and working on projects with clients who seek her unique approach. She was recently inducted into the Ag Relations Hall of Fame based on her contributions to communications and outreach, many of those in a pioneering role of connecting to food and family influencers while at Monsanto.
A member of the National Speakers Association, Janice has built programs to build understanding for each side of the urban and rural gap. Her podcast. Grounded by the Farm, shares stories about producing food visiting farms and sharing audio and video growing avocados or wagyu beef. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Memphis and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri today but every winter thinks more seriously about moving further south.
Replay available soon
Climate Migration: Human Migration as an Adaptive Response to Climate Change
June 20, 2024 – 12:00pm-1:15pm ET
Joyce Chen, Professor
Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University
Description:
This talk provides an overview of how climate change is affecting human migration in Bangladesh. As climate change progresses, so does the need to understand adaptation mechanisms. Migration is only one of several possible adaptation mechanisms, but it is an extreme response. We discuss who is affected by climate change and how, what prompts migration, who can migrate, who may be forced to migrate, and the implications for equity and inclusion.
About the speaker:
Dr. Joyce Chen is a development and labor economist with research interests in migration, climate resilience, human capital, and diversity, equity and inclusion. She joined the Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at The Ohio State University in 2022. Previously, she was on faculty with Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics, where she started as an assistant professor in 2007, received tenure in 2017, and was promoted to professor in 2022. She received her Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.
Replay available soon
Indigenous Right Relations: Shifting Power and Land Forward
July 18, 2024 – 12:00pm-1:15pm ET
- Chad Duplain, Senior Associate Director of Corporate Relations (Midwest), The Nature Conservancy
- Cheryl Martinez, Global Director of Development, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, The Nature Conservancy
Description:
This talk will provide an overview of efforts by The Nature Conservancy to support the sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples throughout North America, with a few examples of how they have engaged locally in the land now called “Ohio.” There are currently 45 federally recognized tribal governments that have historical and ancestral connections to the land in Ohio. This talk will describe why stewardship by Indigenous Peoples often achieves better outcomes for our lands, waters, and climate than non-Indigenous stewards. The speakers will provide an overview of The Nature Conservancy's efforts to elevate and center Indigenous partners' voices and choices as the original stewards of the land. Opportunities for allyship will be addressed including Gifting Power and what this means as we think of land.
About the speakers:
Chad Duplain is senior associate director of Corporate Relations for The Nature Conservancy (TNC), where he has worked for six years to connect The Nature Conservancy's key conservation initiatives through partnership, philanthropy, and relationship building. His role is designed to help TNC reach their most ambitious 2030 goals for our climate, waters, oceans, biodiversity, and people alike. In addition, Chad graduated from The Ohio State University, where he received his degree in Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife and has an immense passion for inspiring key conservation outcomes for our planet and nature. He recently married his partner, Matthew, and enjoys volleyball, bird watching, traveling, gardening, and long walks in Clintonville, Ohio with their dog, Finnigan. From 2022 to 2023, Chad worked closely with The Nature Conservancy’s Global DEI Officer, James Page, and the Global DEI Team through a fellowship to continue to build TNC’s philanthropic muscle on the GDEI team, lay a framework for equitable engagement, and develop case studies of what values-based philanthropy looks like.
Cheryl Martinez is The Nature Conservancy’s director of development, supporting conservation in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities. With an emphasis on wealth as good medicine, Cheryl engages donors to move on shared conservation goals, informing an equitable and culturally responsive approach to philanthropy. Cheryl has 20 years of fundraising experience, including 10 years at The Nature Conservancy. She has led communications for TNC’s first recognition of Indigenous Peoples' Day, served as a co-lead for the Multicultural Employee Resource Group, leading storytelling projects to elevate voices across TNC’s global community, and founded of the Native Network, an online gathering space for Indigenous staff at TNC. Cheryl is also on the board of a Mayan Economic Development nonprofit based in Omaha, Nebraska. Born and raised in England and now residing in New York, Cheryl is a graduate of the University of Wales where she earned a degree in Art History. Cheryl has Tewa, Zapotec, Spanish and English ancestry, and enjoys cooking and learning about food, culture, and art.
Replay available soon
Contemporary Differences in U.S. Farm Financial Performance by Race: Does Farm Size Matter?
October 17, 2024 – 12:00pm-1:15pm ET
LaPorchia Collins, Assistant Professor of Food and Nutrition Equity, Tufts University
Description: What are the similarities and differences across farms operated by producers of different races? This talk examines whether farm financial performance differs among farms operated by White, Black, and Native American producers. Black and Native American farmers, in particular, have struggled to hold on to farmland over the last century. The talk will explore the historical context in which these farms operate and highlight observed racial differences in performance for farms that engage in beef cattle production, an industry in which a large share of Black and Native American producers specialize. The findings will be placed in the broader context of other work examining socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
About the speaker:
Dr. LaPorchia Collins is an applied economist in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Her research program focuses on equity in food, agriculture, and nutrition. Her research aims to address multiple dimensions of food insecurity by examining inequalities across the food system and social issues at the food-health-environment nexus. Before joining Friedman, Dr. Collins served as a research agricultural economist at the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS), where she conducted research on livestock and animal product markets, including on topics such as livestock industry structure, farm management and minority farm performance, and links between demand for plant-based meat alternatives and environmental outcomes.
Before ERS, Dr. Collins served as a professor of practice and director of undergraduate studies in economics at Tulane University, where she worked for five years upon completion of her doctoral studies. For her contributions to teaching and research, Dr. Collins was awarded the 2020 Lawrence M. v. D. Schloss Prize for Excellence in Economics.
Since 2022, Dr. Collins has served in leadership on the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association’s (AAEA) Committee on the Opportunities and Status of Blacks in Agricultural Economics (COSBAE). During her academic studies, Dr. Collins was honored as a Patrick S. Osmer Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) Fellow and USDA 1890 National Scholar.
Click here to register for LaPorchia Collins' talk
Understanding the History of Ecology and Imperialism: The Importance of Indigenous Environmental Studies
November 21, 2024 – 12:00pm-1:15pm ET
Natasha Myhal, Provost's Fellow - Assistant Professor of Indigenous Environmental Studies in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University
Description:
The environment drives many conversations about what it means to be human and how to live in our world today. Indigenous peoples have protected their environments since time immemorial and continue to in the face of climate change. Yet their work is seldomly acknowledged. This talk will outline the rapidly growing academic field of Indigenous Environmental Studies. It will shed light on the origins of European ecological sciences and their connections to imperialism and encourage the audience to grapple with those legacies today. Dr. Natasha Myhal from the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) will discuss the Indigenous Environmental Studies courses created for SENR, highlighting the benefits of diverse perspectives and diverse ways of experiencing the world in conversations about the environment. To move forward in a new and equitable way, Indigenous solutions and voices need to be front and center.
About the speaker:
Dr. Natasha Myhal is a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. She is a Provost's Fellow - Assistant Professor of Indigenous Environmental Studies at The Ohio State University. At Ohio State, she is also an American Indian Studies collaborative faculty member in the Center for Ethnic Studies. Before joining the School of Environment and Natural Resources, she was the 2022-2023 Henry Roe Cloud Dissertation Fellow at Yale University, hosted by American Studies and the Yale Group for the Study of Native America. Her interdisciplinary research and teaching centers on three areas: Anishinaabe epistemologies and value systems such as mino-bimaadiziwin (living well), contemporary forms of Indigenous governance, Indigenous environmental restoration, and cultural practices.