Alissa White
New England Deputy DirectorBiography
Dr. Alissa White is AFT’s New England Deputy Director. She holds a Ph.D. in Plant and Soil Science from UVM, an MS in Agroecology from UVM, and earned her BA in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She brings two decades of experience working in agriculture in California and New England to her role at AFT. Her research places farmers as central agents in creating solutions to pressing challenges facing agriculture, and her work has explored agricultural resilience to climate change in the northeastern US, the provisioning of ecosystem services from alternative soil and nutrient management strategies, and the role of farmer networks in supporting farmers’ capacity to adapt to new challenges.
As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Gund Institute for Environment and UVM Extension Alissa built research collaborations to generate usable and context-specific information for farmers and policymakers about soil health, and the links between ecosystem services and soil health indicators. She coordinated technical research for the Vermont Soil Health & Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group, led Vermont’s State of Soil Health initiative, and directed the New England Adaptation Survey. Alissa is a member of the Agroecology & Livelihoods Collaborative, a GradCAP scholar, a Global Affiliate of the Gund Institute for Environment, and was named a national Emerging Leader in Food and Agriculture in 2020.