August 22, 2016: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: JJ Richardson, CEFS Website and Communications Manager, 919-889-8219 or jblevinr@ncsu.edu
Raleigh, NC: The Center for Environmental Farming Systems is excited to welcome its new Co-Director from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T), Dr. Chyi Lyi (Kathleen) Liang. Dr. Liang will hold the W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Community-Based Food Systems at N.C. A&T’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Liang replaces Dr. John O’Sullivan, who retired in 2014.
CEFS, a partnership of N.C. A&T, NC State University, and the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, is one of the nation’s most important centers for research, extension, and education in sustainable agriculture and community-based food systems. “We are very excited to welcome Dr. Liang to CEFS. She brings a broad array of expertise and skills to the position that will enhance the work we do at our research facility and across the state in developing and promoting just and equitable food and farming systems that conserve natural resources, strengthen communities, improve health outcomes, and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond”, says Nancy Creamer, Co-Director of CEFS from NC State. “Dr. Liang’s well-established background in sustainable agriculture and small-business outreaches are a wonderful fit for our program and its mission to advance agricultural-based education and engagement,” says Dr. Shirley Hymon-Parker, interim dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at N.C. A&T.
Dr. Liang is an award-winning scholar who designed and created one of the first integrated entrepreneurship programs in the US, Dollar Enterprise, through service-learning and experiential learning in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Vermont.
Dr. Liang was born and raised in Taiwan. She came to the US in 1988 to complete her M.S. and Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. Dr. Liang worked for the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research and Extension Center at Scottsbluff, Nebraska between 1996 and 1998 as an Extension Economist, where her projects covered small grains, livestock, sunflower, dry edible beans, buffalo, prairie dogs, and turf grass. Dr. Liang joined the University of Vermont in 1998 and started working on topics such as agritourism and rural entrepreneurship. Her research, teaching, and outreach focus on entrepreneurship, applied economics, youth development, and community network analysis.
Andy Meier, NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Cherry Research Farm Superintendent says, “At the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, we look forward to working with Dr. Liang in our partnerships to improve farming systems, conserve natural resources and enhance community health in North Carolina.”
In 2008, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded NC State and N.C. A&T $1.5 million each to support CEFS’ efforts to increase production, processing, distribution and consumption of local, sustainably raised foods in North Carolina, as well as enable the creation of an endowed chair at each university. It was the first such twin endowment in the nation and established the CEFS Co-Director position at N.C. A&T.
For more information about CEFS, please visit www.cefsnc.org.
The Center for Environmental Farming Systems is a partnership of NC State University, NC Agricultural and Technical State University and the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. CEFS develops and promotes just and equitable food and farming systems that conserve natural resources, strengthen communities, improve health outcomes, and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond.
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