Currently a visiting researcher at ICTA-UAB, I am usually a professor of International Environment and Development Studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Most of my research focuses on the plant-human relationship in food systems.
Together with excellent colleagues from many fields, I have studied crop diversity and its co-evolution with human cultures. We have conducted field- and genomics-based studies on the prehistoric and historic diversification of cotton (Gossypium barbadense) in South America, and of maize (Zea mays) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in Africa.
Inspired by theory from crop science, human ecology, cultural evolution, political ecology, and critical agrarian studies, I write about how culture and politics have shaped crops—and how crops have shaped cultures and politics.
Another area of my research and teaching focuses on the governance of crop diversity and seed systems, with relevance to genetic resource conservation, participatory plant breeding, and seed system development.
In parallel with these plant- and seed-centered studies, I also collaborate on research addressing the politics and practices of measuring, understanding, and responding to food insecurity and food system sustainability.