Jacqueline A. Ignatova

Dr. Jacqueline A. Ignatova serves as Associate Professor in Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University, where she has expanded food studies programming since joining in Fall 2015 through innovative teaching, Ghana-based research, and community partnerships including co-founding AppalFRESH and organizing the High Country Food Summit and Community FEaST events.

• Ph.D. in Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park (2015)
• M.A. in International Relations, San Francisco State University (2007)
• B.A. in Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara (2002)

Her research critically examines agricultural development interventions in Africa through postcolonial and feminist STS lenses, challenging narratives of the "new Green Revolution" while investigating how gold mining impacts food sovereignty and women's livelihoods in Ghana's Upper East Region. She employs political ethnography and discourse analysis to reveal tensions between extractive economies and Indigenous regenerative practices.

• Fulbright award (2012-13)
• Nomination for International Studies Association Global Development Section Book Award (2021)

Dr. Ignatova secured a U.S. Embassy Accra University-to-University Partnerships’ Initiative Grant (2022) for Appalachian State University's rural-to-rural partnership with Ghana's University for Development Studies, facilitating faculty exchanges. She mentors students through community-engaged projects with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture and F.A.R.M. Café, connecting classroom learning to local food justice initiatives.

As founding member of AppalFRESH and the University for Development Studies partnership, she coordinates cross-institutional research on food security while organizing annual events like the "Arts of Resistance" workshop that integrate academic scholarship with grassroots activism.