The Transformative Food Systems Fellowship
The Transformative Food Systems (TFS) Fellowship at the University of Michigan is rooted in the idea that bold leaders are urgently needed who reflect the communities most affected by intertwined environmental, health and economic food systems crises.
During the two-year fellowship, TFS Fellows study food systems from diverse disciplinary angles and gain critical skills needed to construct truly transformative food systems that are more equitable, health-promoting and ecologically resilient.
While obtaining a master’s degree from the Michigan Public Health Department of Nutritional Sciences, the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), or the University of Michigan Taubman College’s Urban and Regional Planning Program (URP), TFS Fellows will gain the scientific and organizing aptitude needed to construct more equitable, health-promoting and ecologically resilient food systems.
Students and Eligibility
Funding for the TFS Fellowship covers 12 incoming master’s degree students in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, SEAS and URP who identify as underrepresented, first-generation or low-income, and who aim to study food systems.
At this time, the TFS Fellowship is a Fellowship limited to two cohorts of students (incoming Fall 2022 and Fall 2023).
Student Funding
TFS Fellows will receive an $18,500 stipend for each year of their two-year master’s program. Students who conduct summer field research or an internship internationally will also be eligible for an additional $2,750 to cover travel and cost of living.
Student Requirements
TFS Fellows will be required to:
- Enroll in Foundations of Sustainable Food Systems
- Enroll in Food Literacy for All class
- Enroll in the TFS Seminar every semester for two years
- Complete a field experience, which can be double counted with School of Public Health requirements, either through an internship or thesis project
TFS Fellowship Leadership and Advisors
Directors
Lesli Hoey
Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning
Taubman College
Ivette Perfecto
James E. Crowfoot Collegiate Professor of Environmental Justice
School for Environment and Sustainability
Co-Directors
Andrew Jones
Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences
School of Public Health
Jennifer Blesh
Associate Professor of Ecosystem Science and Management
School for Environment and Sustainability
Meha Jain
Assistant Professor of Geospatial Data Sciences
School for Environment and Sustainability
Brendan O’Neill
Assistant Research Scientist, Ecosystem Science and Management
School for Environment and Sustainability
Fellowship Funding
The TFS Fellowship is funded by two grants secured through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) program.