Jennifer Hodbod

Jennifer Hodbod is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on resilient food systems that balance environmental and economic sustainability with equitable food provision in the face of climate change, shifting preferences, and economic volatility. She employs environmental social science and political ecology methods, particularly resilience assessment frameworks, to analyze multi-scalar impacts on food security, livelihoods, and ecosystems.

Education: PhD in Environmental Social Science from the University of East Anglia (UK), postdoctoral work at Arizona State University's Global Institute of Sustainability. Her doctoral research examined biofuel expansion's effects on Ethiopia's social-ecological systems, while postdoctoral work explored urban agriculture and AMP grazing practices.

Current projects span the US and East Africa, investigating regenerative grazing adoption, river basin development impacts in the Omo-Turkana Basin, Lansing's urban agriculture resilience, and Flint's food system sustainability. She leads the Food System Resilience (FOSTER) research group, collaborating with governments, NGOs, and producers to translate research into actionable solutions.

Her work emphasizes applied research with real-world impact, leveraging transdisciplinary collaborations. She advises students interested in sustainable food systems, food security, drylands, and resilience theory. Key locations include Michigan (Lansing/Flint), Ethiopia, Kenya, and Arizona.