My name is Anna and I am an enthusiastic soil scientist who is on a mission to mitigate climate change by changing the way we grow food, treat our soil, and handle 'waste'.
“The best farming practices will vary from crop to crop and place to place. Building healthier soils, however, will be key everywhere.”
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Growing up in a rural dairy farming community in coastal northern California, in high school I started working with a local vegetable farmer and started my own plant business, Anna’s Herbs. Wanting to teach agricultural science and spread public awareness about food production, I went to the University of California, Davis to get a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Environmental Education. I then became fascinated by the role of research in addressing the challenges farmers are facing on the farm, and worked on a project to understand the role of winter cover crops in on-farm drought resiliency. After completing a master’s degree in Sustainability Science and Environmental Studies at Lund University in Sweden, researching farmer adoption of practices that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from arable soils in the Netherlands at Wageningen University, I started a PhD in Earth System Science at Stanford University in the Soil & Environmental Biogeochemistry Group, now studying on-farm nitrogen cycling, cover cropping, and circular crop nutrients to reduce water pollution and GHGs. My work spans from soil incubations in the laboratory to establishing and running a field trial in California’s Salinas Valley.
I am a soil scientist with a sustainability science mindset who has many sprawling roots, including developing science education and higher education curriculum, reducing food loss/waste, advocating for low-carbon public transportation, circularizing waste management, building community, and transforming the way we grow food. Some of my favorite things include freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, long runs, CrossFit classes, food rescue of any kind, clothing swaps and reuse, movie nights, reading with my partner on our back patio, garden walks, chaotic cooking, and everything floral.
🌏 My Eco Manifesto: The Earth is our home. I care about its current and future health because our Earth holds all of the people that I love. I believe that when we know better, we should do better.
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<aside> 🗒️ Here is my current CV:
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