Eden Hall Campus Community Profile: Sustainable Agriculture Director Laura Jessee Livingston, Ph.D.
Working at Chatham’s beautiful and sustainable Eden Hall Campus has perks in spades… including a more temperate climate than our new Sustainable Agriculture Director Laura Jessee Livingston, Ph.D. is used to. “Coming from Wisconsin— I have been surprised by the lack of snow. Additionally, with the Solar Hight Tunnel, we can grow year-round which I have not experienced since I did the Peace Corps in Ghana.” Year-round produce, teaching classes, and working with staff and students to keep Eden Hall Campus running keeps Livingston pretty busy, but thankfully she still had the time to sit down with us and share her experiences as a new member of our campus community.
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Laura Jessee Livingston (she/her) and I am the new sustainable agriculture director and assistant professor in food studies on the Eden Hall campus. I am originally from Roanoke, a small city in Southwest Virginia but I have lived in five states and on two other continents before making my way to Pittsburgh. My early interests were in ecology, growing up I loved being outside and observing different aspects of my environment. This led to me pursuing my BS in biology and geology at Oberlin College in Ohio. In my spare time I like to hike, canoe, and play volleyball.
How did you first discover your fascination with food systems?
While at Oberlin College, I ate in the cooperative dining system called the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association. I played volleyball in college and could not work the typical meal shifts, so my job was to be the composter for the coop. I would collect compost and deliver it to a local farm, which was one of the farms that our coop bought produce from. I was amazed with the biological aspects of compost and really dug the idea of closed nutrient systems. After I graduated, I went into the Peace Corps as an agricultural advisor to put some of these interests into practice.
What drew you to Chatham, and what classes are you teaching?
I am very new to Chatham— I started July 2022! When I read the job description for the position, which included agricultural practice, teaching, and community engagement, I was immediately interested in applying. After exploring the campus virtually and in-person, I was excited about the current projects (beekeeping, apiary, mushroom production, etc.) and the potential for student led-projects and initiatives. The most important factor was meeting the people on my visit, the faculty, staff, and students were really welcoming and had created a really supportive and generative culture. I am currently teaching a Research Methods Class for Food Studies graduate students. In the summer, I will be teaching the Agroecology lecture and lab (also a graduate student course).
Describe what a Sustainable Agriculture Director does— how is it different at EHC than at a “normal” working farm?
Livingston suited up to tend to one of Chatham’s apiaries
As the sustainable agriculture director, a lot of my work is to integrate the amazing agricultural projects we have on the ground with courses and co-curricular experiences like workshops. As I am new to the position, I am creating a lot of plans and standards of practice to support our collective goals. I have a phenomenal team of professional staff members, like Indira Alcantara our farm manager and Rebeca Nathan our apiary manager, who support our student staff who do the majority of the labor on the farm. What makes our farm different is the educational and experimental aspects, we are not growing for profit but instead we are growing food as a way to engage students with ecological, social, and cultural questions in our food system. Once we harvest our food, I work with Jason and Nate at Parkhurst to sell our produce, and we create opportunities like community lunches and food shares to ensure that students have free access to our produce as well.
What’s one thing you’d love for people to know about your work?
We have a lot of programs going on at Eden Hall! The farm team hosts a workshop each month. In January, Indira taught a maple workshop and in February Maris Wilson, a graduate student, will be leading a workshop on mushroom production. Along with the Farm Team, the culinary team and CRAFT also create events for students and the public. The Eden Hall campus is always busy year-round!
During the winter and early spring we are tapping maple trees. We have gathered over 120 gallons of sap and have started the evaporation process. I am extremely excited about the maple syrup production on the farm and tasting the delicious end product.
Want to see Eden Hall Campus for yourself? Attend our Falk School Graduate Saturday Visit Day on March 11th, our undergraduate Falk School Academic Visit Day on March 14th and April 4th, or schedule a visit at another time.
