Food Systems Director, Ecolibrium 3
Ecolibrium-3
152 Church Road
PO Box 231
KNIFE RIVER, MN 55609
United States
PO Box 231
KNIFE RIVER, MN 55609
United States
(w) (906) 250-9040
About
Dr. Bertossi is Director of Sustainable Food Systems at Ecolibrium-3 with over ten years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental studies, sustainability, geography, geographic research, food systems, and connected learning curriculum in higher education.
She strives to contribute to equitable educational change and building a more just and sustainable future through a socially and environmentally oriented lens. Her teaching approach includes interdisciplinary, applied, community-based, and student-centered learning that addresses important global and local issues.
Her teaching and research examine the interactions between social, economic, and ecological sustainability as well as social equity, bio-cultural diversities and sustainable food systems, specifically focused on economically marginalized communities. She is especially interested in the creative spaces from where resilience and transformation grow within those communities.
She is currently researching social ecological resilience in rural Lake Superior communities, building farm-based authentic research modules in the sustainability sciences (FARMS), and training students in sustainable agriculture techniques at the UMD Land Lab.
She has experience outside of academia in natural resources analysis and land management; endangered species management; sustainable food systems; sustainable community development; sustainability education; mining policy, and building diverse economies.
Currently Teaching Fall 2021
ES 3100 Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems (Lecture and Lab, Two Sections)
ES 2005 Introduction to Environment and Sustainability
Courses Taught at UMD
ES 3200 Environmental and Ecological Justice (Spring)
ES 3500 Ecological Economics (Spring)
ES 2100 Western Lake Superior Sustainable Food Systems Field-Based Practicum (Summer)
Courses Taught Prior to Working at UMD
Introduction to Environmental Science
Human Geography
Introduction to Geographic Research
Introduction to Sustainability
Urban Geography
Population Geography
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Sustainability Education (Economic and Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity Concentration), Prescott College, Prescott, AZ
Master of Science in Geography (Environmental and Resource Analysis Concentration), Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Bachelors of Geography, (Conservation Concentration with a Minor in Art and Design), Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
Taken as a whole, the UMD Land Lab represents a 21st century Land Grant University platform for meeting the challenges and opportunities in the western Lake Superior region as we revitalize university land formerly part of the Northeast Agricultural Experimental Station (1912-1976). The Land Lab Sustainable Agriculture Project began in 2009.
The western Lake Superior region faces many challenges and opportunities related to climate change, invasive species, species extinction, water quality challenges, socio-economic challenges, and landscape change. And we are in the process of transforming our human infrastructure to match our 21st century challenges and opportunities. This transition to more sustainable infrastructures is social and cultural as much as ecological and technological. Indeed, these challenges and solutions demand collaboration across silos of all sorts, be they academic disciplines, social sectors, or political orientation. The UMD Land Lab addresses these challenges by facilitating collaboration with researchers from the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences and engineering on solutions-oriented, community embedded projects. We foster collaboration between campus academics and operations, community organizations, and various governmental units on site. And we model these collaborative activities for and with our students, who will in turn take these examples and replicate them in their lives and careers wherever they travel. UMD’s Dining Services plays a visionary role in the UMD Land Lab, supporting personnel needs and purchasing produce grown via organic field methods which is mostly served on campus. More than a thousand university and Duluth students annually participate in on site experiential learning activities. Our UMD campus in turn is modelling how to transition an institution in the wake of the social and ecological changes unfolding around us. We also sell some of our produce as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to faculty and staff and at a discount to students. During Covid we were able to help supplement fresh produce to area small-holder farms as well as partnering through an Institute on the Environment and with Morgan Park Community Gardens to distribute fresh produce to Morgan Park residents once a week for free as Morgan Park is considered a Food Desert. We also loan interns out to area organic and naturally grown farms in the area for projects. In a typical year we hire 12-15 student interns who help plant, grow, harvest, market, sell, and distribute produce from the farm. The Land Lab regularly hosts two courses, ES 3500 a Sustainable Food Systems Lab, and ES 2100 Western Lake Superior Sustainable Food Systems summer practicum. Key focus areas for this year include combining food access with farmer sustainable livelihoods; teaching students to connect sustainable agriculture to a larger food system, and habitat restoration on long-abused land. We are also exploring opportunities for helping to develop partnerships with tribal nations to begin the long road to addressing issues long-associated with the Morrill Act of 1862.
She strives to contribute to equitable educational change and building a more just and sustainable future through a socially and environmentally oriented lens. Her teaching approach includes interdisciplinary, applied, community-based, and student-centered learning that addresses important global and local issues.
Her teaching and research examine the interactions between social, economic, and ecological sustainability as well as social equity, bio-cultural diversities and sustainable food systems, specifically focused on economically marginalized communities. She is especially interested in the creative spaces from where resilience and transformation grow within those communities.
She is currently researching social ecological resilience in rural Lake Superior communities, building farm-based authentic research modules in the sustainability sciences (FARMS), and training students in sustainable agriculture techniques at the UMD Land Lab.
She has experience outside of academia in natural resources analysis and land management; endangered species management; sustainable food systems; sustainable community development; sustainability education; mining policy, and building diverse economies.
Currently Teaching Fall 2021
ES 3100 Introduction to Sustainable Food Systems (Lecture and Lab, Two Sections)
ES 2005 Introduction to Environment and Sustainability
Courses Taught at UMD
ES 3200 Environmental and Ecological Justice (Spring)
ES 3500 Ecological Economics (Spring)
ES 2100 Western Lake Superior Sustainable Food Systems Field-Based Practicum (Summer)
Courses Taught Prior to Working at UMD
Introduction to Environmental Science
Human Geography
Introduction to Geographic Research
Introduction to Sustainability
Urban Geography
Population Geography
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Sustainability Education (Economic and Ecological Sustainability and Social Equity Concentration), Prescott College, Prescott, AZ
Master of Science in Geography (Environmental and Resource Analysis Concentration), Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
Bachelors of Geography, (Conservation Concentration with a Minor in Art and Design), Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI
Taken as a whole, the UMD Land Lab represents a 21st century Land Grant University platform for meeting the challenges and opportunities in the western Lake Superior region as we revitalize university land formerly part of the Northeast Agricultural Experimental Station (1912-1976). The Land Lab Sustainable Agriculture Project began in 2009.
The western Lake Superior region faces many challenges and opportunities related to climate change, invasive species, species extinction, water quality challenges, socio-economic challenges, and landscape change. And we are in the process of transforming our human infrastructure to match our 21st century challenges and opportunities. This transition to more sustainable infrastructures is social and cultural as much as ecological and technological. Indeed, these challenges and solutions demand collaboration across silos of all sorts, be they academic disciplines, social sectors, or political orientation. The UMD Land Lab addresses these challenges by facilitating collaboration with researchers from the humanities, the social sciences, the natural sciences and engineering on solutions-oriented, community embedded projects. We foster collaboration between campus academics and operations, community organizations, and various governmental units on site. And we model these collaborative activities for and with our students, who will in turn take these examples and replicate them in their lives and careers wherever they travel. UMD’s Dining Services plays a visionary role in the UMD Land Lab, supporting personnel needs and purchasing produce grown via organic field methods which is mostly served on campus. More than a thousand university and Duluth students annually participate in on site experiential learning activities. Our UMD campus in turn is modelling how to transition an institution in the wake of the social and ecological changes unfolding around us. We also sell some of our produce as a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) to faculty and staff and at a discount to students. During Covid we were able to help supplement fresh produce to area small-holder farms as well as partnering through an Institute on the Environment and with Morgan Park Community Gardens to distribute fresh produce to Morgan Park residents once a week for free as Morgan Park is considered a Food Desert. We also loan interns out to area organic and naturally grown farms in the area for projects. In a typical year we hire 12-15 student interns who help plant, grow, harvest, market, sell, and distribute produce from the farm. The Land Lab regularly hosts two courses, ES 3500 a Sustainable Food Systems Lab, and ES 2100 Western Lake Superior Sustainable Food Systems summer practicum. Key focus areas for this year include combining food access with farmer sustainable livelihoods; teaching students to connect sustainable agriculture to a larger food system, and habitat restoration on long-abused land. We are also exploring opportunities for helping to develop partnerships with tribal nations to begin the long road to addressing issues long-associated with the Morrill Act of 1862.
Projects
| YENC21-161 | Sustainable Agriculture and Healthy Lives Day |