Lowery Parker, PhD

Lowery has a master’s degree in international policy and a PhD in geography and integrative conservation, both from the University of Georgia. Her research focuses on the politics of agricultural investment in Africa, exploring issues related to philanthropy, genetically modified crops, and food sovereignty. Her interest in food politics stems from a childhood growing up on a family farm in southwest Georgia as well as her experience living in Niger as a Peace Corps volunteer. She has worked on farms and in restaurants committed to building local food systems and has conducted applied research on agricultural issues such as irrigation efficiency and the social effects of large-scale commodity crop production.

Her teaching is based on the premise that addressing “wicked” environmental problems requires the transformation of our food and energy systems, and that this transformation must be based in racial and economic justice. She is interested in facilitating dialogue around “political imaginations,” as seen in cooperative land governance models, racial justice in supply chains, and democratic funding relationships between agricultural producers and philanthropic organizations.

See Dr. Parker’s full list of publications

Education

• PhD, Geography and Integrative Conservation, University of Georgia
• MIP, International Policy, University of Georgia