Agroecology (PDF)

V. Ernesto Méndez is Professor of Agroecology and Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont's (UVM) Environmental Program and Department of Plant and Soil Science, where he also co-directs the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative (ALC) with Martha Caswell. With degrees in Crop Science, Tropical Agroforestry, and Agroecology, he focuses his research and teaching on agroecology, agri-food systems, participatory action research (PAR), coffee agroecology, transdisciplinary research approaches, and social justice. At UVM he is also a faculty member of the Food Systems Graduate Program, fellow and steering committee member of the Gund Institute for Environment. He has more than 25 years of experience working with smallholder farmers and Indigenous communities in Latin America and collaborating in agroecology efforts across the world. He has authored or co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed articles and chapters and edited three books. Ernesto was born and raised in El Salvador and maintains deep connections, in life and work, with his Central American roots.

Victor M. Izzo is an agricultural entomologist and Lecturer of Agroecology and Environmental Studies in the Plant and Soil Science Department and Environmental Program at the University of Vermont. He also serves as the Education Coordinator of the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative (ALC) and is the co-founder of the Vermont Entomology and Participatory Action Research Team (VEPART), also housed within the Department of Plant and Soil Science. With degrees in Chemistry, Bioscience, and Plant and Soil Science, Vic brings a broad perspective to his work as an agroecologist and teacher. Whether it is a high school classroom in Mexico City, a Master Gardener workshop on a New England farm, or an agroecology course on a university campus, he is always looking to create innovative learning communities built on trust, empathy, and the co-production of knowledge. When he is not in a classroom or on a farm, Vic is with his partner Carolina and son Nico tending to their many gardens and indulging in their respective culinary traditions of Italy and Mexico.

Eric W. Engles is a freelance editor, independent scholar, photographer, and naturalist. With experience in the natural sciences, a graduate degree in Sociology, and recognized achievement in the arts, he has developmentally edited more than two dozen books published by academic presses in fields ranging from environment and history to art and behavioral sciences. He has always tended a home garden, and the current two-decade gardening endeavor, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, supplies him and his wife Lisa with much of their food.