Skip to main content
Skip to main content
Give      University of Florida

Community Engagement 

This cross-cutting approach aims to:

  • Communicate scientific research and Extension activities carried out by GFSI to inform food system contributors.
  • Build GFSI capacity by engaging and connecting with other communities.
  • Create targeted plans for information collection and dissemination to gather community support.

GFSI faculty conduct interdisciplinary food systems research, teaching, and Extension activities by seeking to address some of the most foundational issues in food systems from food safety to food security. Due to the diversity of disciplines, topics, methodologies, and goals comprising food systems efforts many collaborations already exist in a complex landscape of researchers, students, organizations, and community residents, and new collaborations are available to be established.

Community engagement can increase the impact of our work by increasing awareness of GFSI activities and establishing partnerships with groups connected to GFSI’s goals and mission. Effective engagement needs to be truly collaborative, with attention towards listening, full participation, and community consultation.

The Community Engagement team will increase awareness of GFSI’s activities and increase faculty members’ awareness of collaboration opportunities that would benefit research, teaching, and Extension. 

To achieve these goals, we will:

  • Conduct a Qualtrics survey of GFSI faculty to catalog current, former, and potential future collaborators.
  • Identify faculty who can serve as GFSI community engagement liaisons to key groups or organizations.
  • Identify opportunities to share GFSI research and outreach activities via the campus community, Gainesville, and Extension faculty.
  • Work with IFAS Communications to draft press releases to increase the visibility of GFSI activities.
  • Support the development of an GFSI student organization who will facilitate GFSI activities and outreach across campus and in the wider Gainesville and Florida communities.

GFSI Leads for the Community Engagement cross-cutting approach are Catherine Campbell, David Outerbridge, and Dina Liebowitz