Rebecca Nelson
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Rebecca Nelson is a professor at Cornell University, in the School of Integrative Plant Science and the Department of Global Development. She currently serves as the SIPS Associate Director for Research and the co-organizer of The Soil Factory in Ithaca. Rebecca’s current research focuses on advancing the circular bionutrient economy to enhance the sustainability of agriculture and food systems, with research activities and engagement in Africa, India and New York. Her team formerly focused on quantitative disease resistance in crops, and on mycotoxin management. Rebecca served as the Scientific Director for the McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program (an agroecology-focused grants program supporting agroecology-oriented research in several low-income countries in Africa and South America) from 2001-2021. She was co-chair of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems thematic group of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (2012-2021). She was a MacArthur Fellow from 1998 to 2003..