Jeff Liebert
Current Position
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University
Education
PhD, Soil and Crop Sciences, Cornell University, United States, 2022
Dissertation: Agroecology in the United States — Pathways Toward Agroecosystem Redesign and Agri-Food System Transformation
Committee: Dr. Matthew Ryan, Dr. Rachel Bezner Kerr, and Dr. Alison Power
MSc, Soil and Crop Sciences, Cornell University, United States, 2016
Thesis: Developing the System — Cultural Practices to Enhance Weed Suppression and Profitability in Organic No-Till Planted Soybean
Committee: Dr. Matthew Ryan, Dr. Antonio DiTommaso, and Dr. Quirine Ketterings
BSc, Global Resource Systems, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2012
Research interests
As a broadly trained researcher, Jeff’s work is drawn from natural and social science disciplines in the pursuit of a more sustainable, just, and equitable agri-food system. Jeff’s scholarship has spanned dairy, grain, and fruit and vegetable systems at local, regional, and national scales. Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, this work has covered such topics as forage quality trade-offs, multi-tactic ecological weed management, farm size and the “conventionalization” of organic agriculture, meaningful work and well-being in agroecology, sociocultural and political barriers to farmer decision-making, and the tension between socio-technical change and the labor-intensity of agroecological practices in the United States.
As a postdoctoral researcher, Jeff is exploring the co-benefits and trade-offs associated with using various agroecological practices in Canada, as well as the synergy and antagonism that emerges when multiple practices are used concurrently. Jeff is also interested in using mixed-methods to address the lock-ins, path dependency, and inertia that makes agri-food systems so resistant to change.
Selected publications
Liebert J, Cherney JH, Ketterings QM, Mirsky SB, Pelzer CJ, Ryan MR (2023) Winter cereal species, cultivar, and harvest timing affect trade-offs between forage quality and yield. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, in press.
Liebert J, and Ryan MR (2022) Sustainable management practices vary with farm size in US organic crop production. Nature Plants, 8, 871–872.
Bezner Kerr R, Liebert J, Kansanga M, Kpienbaareh D (2022) Human and social values in agroecology: A review. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 10, 00090.
Liebert J, Benner R, Bezner Kerr R, Björkman T, De Master KT, Gennet S, Gómez MI, Hart AK, Kremen C, Power AG, Ryan MR (2022) Farm size affects the use of agroecological practices on organic farms in the United States. Nature Plants, 8, 897–905.
Chapman M, Wiltshire S, Baur P, Bowles T, Carlisle L, Castillo F, Eszquivel K, Gennet S, Iles A, Karp DS, Kremen C, Liebert J, Olimpi EM, Ory J, Ryan MR, Sciligo AR, Thompson JB, Waterhouse H, Boettiger C (2022) Social-ecological feedbacks drive tipping points in farming system diversification. One Earth, 5, 283–292.
Bezner Kerr R, Madsen S, Strüber M, Liebert J, Enloe S, Borghino N, Parros P, Munyao Mutyambai D, Prudhon M, Wezel A (2021) Can agroecology improve food security and nutrition? A review. Global Food Security, 29, 100540.
Pendergrast TL, Smith II BJ, Liebert JA, Bezner Kerr R (2019) Introduction to the symposium: rethinking food system transformation—food sovereignty, agroecology, food justice, community action and scholarship. Agriculture and Human Values, 36, 819–823.
Selected awards
Other interests
Running, cycling, hiking, backcountry camping, cooking, bread baking, reading.
Contact information
[email protected]
Current Position
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University
Education
PhD, Soil and Crop Sciences, Cornell University, United States, 2022
Dissertation: Agroecology in the United States — Pathways Toward Agroecosystem Redesign and Agri-Food System Transformation
Committee: Dr. Matthew Ryan, Dr. Rachel Bezner Kerr, and Dr. Alison Power
MSc, Soil and Crop Sciences, Cornell University, United States, 2016
Thesis: Developing the System — Cultural Practices to Enhance Weed Suppression and Profitability in Organic No-Till Planted Soybean
Committee: Dr. Matthew Ryan, Dr. Antonio DiTommaso, and Dr. Quirine Ketterings
BSc, Global Resource Systems, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2012
Research interests
As a broadly trained researcher, Jeff’s work is drawn from natural and social science disciplines in the pursuit of a more sustainable, just, and equitable agri-food system. Jeff’s scholarship has spanned dairy, grain, and fruit and vegetable systems at local, regional, and national scales. Using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, this work has covered such topics as forage quality trade-offs, multi-tactic ecological weed management, farm size and the “conventionalization” of organic agriculture, meaningful work and well-being in agroecology, sociocultural and political barriers to farmer decision-making, and the tension between socio-technical change and the labor-intensity of agroecological practices in the United States.
As a postdoctoral researcher, Jeff is exploring the co-benefits and trade-offs associated with using various agroecological practices in Canada, as well as the synergy and antagonism that emerges when multiple practices are used concurrently. Jeff is also interested in using mixed-methods to address the lock-ins, path dependency, and inertia that makes agri-food systems so resistant to change.
Selected publications
Liebert J, Cherney JH, Ketterings QM, Mirsky SB, Pelzer CJ, Ryan MR (2023) Winter cereal species, cultivar, and harvest timing affect trade-offs between forage quality and yield. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, in press.
Liebert J, and Ryan MR (2022) Sustainable management practices vary with farm size in US organic crop production. Nature Plants, 8, 871–872.
Bezner Kerr R, Liebert J, Kansanga M, Kpienbaareh D (2022) Human and social values in agroecology: A review. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 10, 00090.
Liebert J, Benner R, Bezner Kerr R, Björkman T, De Master KT, Gennet S, Gómez MI, Hart AK, Kremen C, Power AG, Ryan MR (2022) Farm size affects the use of agroecological practices on organic farms in the United States. Nature Plants, 8, 897–905.
Chapman M, Wiltshire S, Baur P, Bowles T, Carlisle L, Castillo F, Eszquivel K, Gennet S, Iles A, Karp DS, Kremen C, Liebert J, Olimpi EM, Ory J, Ryan MR, Sciligo AR, Thompson JB, Waterhouse H, Boettiger C (2022) Social-ecological feedbacks drive tipping points in farming system diversification. One Earth, 5, 283–292.
Bezner Kerr R, Madsen S, Strüber M, Liebert J, Enloe S, Borghino N, Parros P, Munyao Mutyambai D, Prudhon M, Wezel A (2021) Can agroecology improve food security and nutrition? A review. Global Food Security, 29, 100540.
Pendergrast TL, Smith II BJ, Liebert JA, Bezner Kerr R (2019) Introduction to the symposium: rethinking food system transformation—food sovereignty, agroecology, food justice, community action and scholarship. Agriculture and Human Values, 36, 819–823.
Selected awards
- NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2023-2025)
- Cornell University Center for Teaching Innovation Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Lead Fellow (2020-2021)
- NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship, PhD-level (2018-2020)
- Northeastern Weed Science Society Robert D. Sweet Outstanding Graduate Student Award (2017)
- Cornell University Soil and Crop Science Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (2016)
- Cornell University MacDonald-Musgrave Graduate Student Award (2015)
- NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship, MSc-level (2013-2014)
- Fulbright Traditional Student Award (2013-2014)
Other interests
Running, cycling, hiking, backcountry camping, cooking, bread baking, reading.
Contact information
[email protected]