Heidi Gengenbach

Heidi Gengenbach is an Associate Professor of History and Department Chair at the University of Massachusetts Boston's College of Liberal Arts. Her research focuses on the social and environmental history of Africa, with specialization in gender, food systems, and agrarian livelihoods across southern and eastern Africa.

She holds a PhD in History from the University of Minnesota (1999), an MA in Humanitarian Assistance from Tufts University (2013), and a BA in History from the University of Toronto (1986). Key research themes include

• Colonial/post-colonial nutrition science
• Humanitarian intervention histories
• Oral history methodology

Her recent publications explore gendered agrarian transformations, including a forthcoming monograph with Ohio University Press and NSF-funded research on cassava commercialization in Mozambique. She has received the Gutenberg-e Electronic Book Prize for her interdisciplinary work.

Scientific awards include:

• Gutenberg-e Electronic Book Prize (American Historical Association)

Her consulting work bridges academic history with applied development knowledge, most notably through Gates Foundation-funded projects supporting grassroots women's groups in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Uganda. Current research examines the nutritional consequences of donor-funded agricultural interventions in southern Mozambique.