Backbone Organization
The NH Food Alliance Program Coordinator and Research Associates as well as staff from the UNH Sustainability Institute make up the network coordinating team. This group coordinates and convenings meetings, manages network communications, secures network funding, drafts documents and conducts research relevant to the network and strategy development process.
Erin Allgood
Project Coordinator and Network Weaver, NH Food Strategy, UNHSI
Erin earned a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Wheaton College and a Master’s degree in Nutritional Sciences from UNH. After her Master’s degree, Erin fell in love with local food when she started volunteering with Seacoast Eat Local in 2010. She currently serves as a SNAP Committee member for Seacoast Eat Local and has a keen interest in making good food accessible to everyone. Over the last few years, Erin pursued additional coursework in order to better understand topics in sustainability and food systems. She holds a certificate in Leadership in Sustainable Food Systems and Sustainable Business, both from the University of Vermont. To delve even further into sustainable food systems, Erin started a local foods consulting business called Allgood Eats Local in 2013. Her most recent project included an assessment of food hub viability within the state of New Hampshire in conjunction with the Hillsborough County Conservation District. |
Jackie CullenProject Assistant and Communications Coordinator, NH Food Strategy, UNHSI
Jackie Cullen has been the UNHSI's Communications Program Support Assistant since October 2011. In this role, she supports communications and outreach with faculty, staff, students, and outside stakeholders around sustainability and UNHSA's four initiatives in biodiversity, climate, food and culture. Jackie supports the Sustainability Stewards, Energy Task Force, Ecosystem Task Force, NH Farm to School, Food Solutions New England, and other initiatives. Jackie received a BA in Communications from Simmons College, where she started the Simmons Sustainability Committee, and a Masters in Public Administration from UNH. |
Dr. Joanne Burke, Ph.D, R.D., L.D.
Clinical Associate Professor in Nutrition, Director of Dietetic Internship Program, University of New Hampshire
A Clinical Associate Professor in Nutrition (UNH College of Life Sciences & Agriculture) and Director of the UNH Dietetic Internship Program, Dr. Burke's work integrates with and complements the College of Life Science’s and Agriculture organizing focus in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems. Dr. Joanne Burke is also a Food & Society Faculty Fellow at UNHSI. In this role, Dr. Burke provides leadership to engage the University community in efforts to advance sustainable agriculture, food choices, nutrition, and economic and social well-being on campus and beyond. She teaches NUTR 401: Perspectives in Practice, NUTR 600 –Field Experience, NUTR 780 - Critical Issues in Nutrition, NUTR 720 - Community Nutrition, NUTR 929 - Intro into the Dietetics Profession and Practice, and NUTR 930 – Food Service Community and Research in Dietetics. Her areas of interest focus on community nutrition with an emphasis on food system capacity, food security and food system sustainability, food and nutrition practices, social justice, and the integration of research into the dietetics and nutrition curriculum. Her previous work has included research on carotenoid intake and macular pigment density as well as investigations of college-age students nutrition practices and health status. As a faculty member of the UNH Sustainable Food System Task Force, she is involved in on-going collaboration on a comprehensive assessment designed to examine the food, nutrition and agriculture environments and practices of the University community. In spring 2011, Dr. Burke worked with an FSNE graduate assistant and the UNH Dietetic Interns to advance an UNH Engaged Scholars Academy project called “Voices from the Field.” |
Erin Hardie Hale, Ph.D
Research and Planning Associate, NH Food Strategy, UNHSI
Her work focuses on the research, data analysis and communication aspects of the NH Food Strategy development process. Currently, Erin is collaborating with other staff to develop an inventory and map of New Hampshire’s food system resources, organizations and institutions to support the Process and Strategy teams. Before joining this team, Erin completed a PhD in agriculture and science education from UC Davis focused on coalition building and collaborative research between farmers and conservation groups in California’s Central Valley. Erin also has a master’s degree from UC Davis in International Agricultural Development with an emphasis in post-harvest handling systems for horticultural crops. In addition working on farms in Oregon and New Hampshire, she has extensive experience in agricultural training and education and has worked with farmers, farmworkers and rural communities around the globe, from California and Kenya to Bolivia and Egypt. Erin is committed to finding ways that people and organizations can learn with and from one another to build healthy, viable food systems and support resilient ecosystems and communities throughout the world. |
Dr. Tom Kelly, PhD
UNH Chief Sustainability Officer, University of New Hampshire
Dr. Tom Kelly is the founding director of UNH's endowed sustainability program and the UNH Chief Sustainability Officer. Dr. Kelly collaborates with faculty, staff, students and others in the development of curriculum, operations, research and engagement policies, practices and initiatives related to UNH's four educational initiatives in biodiversity, climate, culture, and food. Co-editor and co-author of "The Sustainable Learning Community: One University's Journey to the Future" (2009), Dr. Kelly has been working in the field of higher education and sustainable development for more than fifteen years in the US as well as Colombia and Brazil. Current activities include working with UNH colleagues and outside partners on the UNH organic dairy research farm, Food Solutions New England, Carbon Solutions New England, the Ecology, Climate and Health Working Group, and more. A founding member of the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium working to coordinate activities in New England for the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and a past guest director of the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) Board of Directors, he currently serves on advisory or steering committees and councils for the Real Food Challenge, the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, the Community, Food and Agriculture Program at Cornell University, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), and NHPTV's "Planet Granite." On campus, Dr. Kelly chairs the UNH Sustainability Academy Collaborative Council and participates in the Provost's Staff Council, Energy Task Force, Transportation Policy Committee, Healthy UNH, Ecosystem Task Force, UNH Lands Committee, Concerts Committee, and more. Dr. Kelly was a co-principal investigator on the INHALE project, a NOAA-funded research effort by the UNH Climate Change Research Center in collaboration with the UNH College of Health and Human Services to investigate the effects of climate variability, air quality, and weather on human health in New England, a visiting scholar at the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California San Diego, and a visiting professor of transboundary environmental issues in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands at El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico DF. In addition to an undergraduate and master's degree in musical composition and conducting, he holds a master's degree and a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. |
Jennifer WilhelmResearch and Planning Associate, NH Food Strategy, UNHSI
Jennifer is a Research Associate with the NH Food System Network & Strategy. In this role, she conducts food systems research, and is currently analyzing and synthesizing data from the regional gatherings. Jennifer is presently a doctoral candidate in natural resources and environmental studies at the University of New Hampshire. Her research is focused on conducting spatial analyses, including mapping the biophysical and infrastructural assets of NH’s food system. In her free time, Jennifer is working to start a small-scale farm on her property in Madbury, NH. Jennifer earned a Master’s degree in environmental conservation from the University of New Hampshire, and a Bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Green Mountain College. |
Process Facilitator
Curtis Ogden
Senior Associate, Interaction Institute for Social Change
Curtis brings to IISC his experience in education, community building, leadership development and program design, as well as a passion for efforts that support environmental sustainability. He has worked as an independent research, evaluation, and training consultant to a number of civic engagement and nonprofit support initiatives, including the Building Movement Project (currently housed at Demos), the Nonprofit Quarterly, and Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. Prior to joining IISC, Curtis was the Program and Knowledge Manager of the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship for aspiring urban charter school founders. The son of two teachers, Curtis was raised in Flint, Michigan, and benefited from early experiences living overseas. After college, he returned to Africa to do community and youth development work in Zimbabwe through Silveira House, where he was introduced to and deeply influenced by participatory action research and Training for Transformation methods. He went on to create ImPACT, a model youth service learning program based at The Learning Web in Ithaca, New York. In addition to his work at IISC, Curtis is an adjunct faculty member at Antioch University and a board member of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund. He has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School. |