Four graduate students, including two from the College of Management and Economics, have come together over their interest in sustainability to learn from each other and to gain insight into their own fields of study. Based on their combined research, the group wrote a paper entitled, Paradox and Dialogue: Ecology, Management and Food Sustainability, which was recently accepted at the Agriculture, Food and Human Value Society Annual Conference. The group will speak at the Conference whose 2013 theme is "Toward Sustainable Foodscapes and Landscapes.”

The students originally met through The Sustainability Journal Club, where they began to read articles from each other’s disciplines surrounding sustainability. The group quickly realized that complex problems such as sustainability require interdisciplinary work, and they explored whether they could harness their areas of expertise to bring new insights into this particular area of study. Authors of the paper include Rita Hansen (lead author) and Anahita Khazaie from CME as well as Eric Harvey and Colette Ward from the Department of Integrative Biology.

Throughout the process, the students have explored common misperceptions regarding each other’s disciplines in an attempt to track underlying tensions between ecology and management theories. By doing so, they hope to understand how both fields of research could inform a better understanding of the different interacting agents in the food system. Ideally, they would like to see their insights used by future groups working together toward common goals.

The group will continue to gather feedback regarding their current project, and they may consider taking advantage of seminar opportunities in various departments in order to share their work as the process and the exercise evolves. They also hope to create a platform for interested graduate students and faculty members to engage in an ongoing interdisciplinary dialogue on issues that cross disciplinary borders.