Jennifer Nicklay

Background & Expertise

Jennifer Nicklay (she/they) is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute on the Environment. Their research interests are in agroecology, food systems governance, and participatory research approaches. As an interdisciplinary and community-based scholar, she is committed to work that values multiple knowledge systems and supports the agency of communities to imagine and create just and regenerative food systems. Nicklay received her PhD in land and atmospheric science, where her doctoral research articulated collaborative processes for collective action that were developed through research partnerships with urban farms and gardens in Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN, and explored the effects of urban agricultural practices on soil, water and plant health. In their current work at IonE, they are collaborating with county and state agencies to continue exploring the effects of urban land use on ecological relationships. Additionally, she is working with the Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships to scope projects that assess the climate resiliency and mitigation impacts of both on-farm practices and local/regional food systems, more broadly.