Projects // Passions
KISSAAN
Kisan Sahyog Samoohik Anusandhan Netwark (KISSAAN) is a farmer research network comprised of smallholders in rural northern India. The aim of the network is to uplift communities that are routinely disempowered in efforts to combat food safety and security threats.
Building on the tenets of participatory action research, the farmer research network (FRN) approach nurtures cross-contextual learnings - such that the investigative successes in one community can be shared with and interpreted by many others.
Mycotoxin Surveillance
I examine regulatory needs and gaps in mycotoxin control together with smallholder farmers, with the ultimate goal of creating surveillance systems for resource-poor communities that respect and complement existing local paradigms of quality control. Blending local curiosity with the latest science in mycotoxin diagnostics, my approach to surveillance is rooted in what’s important to the farmer: health, lifestyle, and the bottom line.
Taking a page from the rich tradition of institution//community partnership on the Indian sub-continent, my surveillance model deeply relies on “co-learning",” i.e. a multilateral process wherein diverse actors apply their respective skills to a common problem and jointly benefit from system-specific learnings.
Rural Organizing
As Member and Treasurer of the RuralOrganizing.org Board of Directors,
I advocate for inclusion, acceptance, and equity in America’s thriving rural communities. I bring to the Board a perspective with particular emphasis on the voices of LGBTQIAA++ persons and other marginalized communities in non-urban spaces.