Kate Anderson is the director of the Food & Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She oversees a team whose research and advocacy fosters sustainable food production, equitable access to healthy food, and supportive conditions for all people working along the food chain.
Dr. Anderson is an expert on institutional tools that promote vibrant communities and a healthy environment. Prior to joining UCS, she led Sightline Institute’s Farms & Forests Research Program, where she supported extending timber harvest rotations in Oregon and Washington and reducing the Pacific Northwest’s "carbon hoof-print." She has also researched and taught agroecology and environmental sociology at University of Wisconsin–Madison and University of California, Berkeley, where she investigated dairy "organification," supply management, and associational democracy in the farm sector. Dr. Anderson has also studied climate, biodiversity, water, and land use for the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research program, and the United Nations Development Program.
Dr. Anderson holds an MS in agricultural economics and PhDs in sociology and in environment & resources from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.