My doctoral research addresses how to reduce the environmental impact of the food system by minimizing food waste, the amount of edible food lost and disposed of from farm to fork, by improving how the supply chain is managed. This work falls into the emerging interdisciplinary field referred to as Green Operations Research, which combines tools from economics, operations management, and life cycle assessment. Decaying food in landfills (Hall et al., 2009), which is still where the majority of waste goes, produces 25% of U.S. methane emissions (Lundqvist et al., 2008), one of the strongest greenhouse gases. Wasted food accounts for 2% of annual energy consumption in the United States (Cuellar and Webber, 2010).
Academic Awards
Gerald J. Lieberman Fellowship for research, teaching, and citizenship (covers full tuition and stipend for one year) (2016–2017)
UPS Endowment Fund Fellowship for Research Assistantship (covers 2 full years of stipend + tuition) (2014-2016)
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council PGS-D Award for Doctoral Studies (2012-2015); Canada’s most prestigious science and engineering doctoral award.
International Fulbright Science and Technology Award; 1 of 2 in Canada and 1 of 35 internationally selected; scholarship covers full tuition and stipend for 3 years of my PhD program at Stanford University (2011-2014).
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council PGS-M Award for Graduate Studies (2011-2012)
Invited talks
“How can inventory management strategies be used to reduce food waste and determine public policy best practices?” Productions and Operations Management (POMS) Annual Conference. Seattle, USA. May 5, 2017
“Pursuing research in Stanford’s Management Science and Engineering Program.” Stanford University. Presented to MS&E undergraduate summer research students. August 8, 2016.
“Effect of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Policies on Food Waste From Groceries Stores: Retail Inventory Management Strategies and Consumer Choice”. Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Conference (MSOM). University of Auckland, New Zealand. June 30, 2016.
“Operations management approach to addressing food waste policy issues”. MS&E 302: Fundamental Concepts in Management Science and Engineering Guest Lecture, Stanford University. October 2, 2015.
“Waste not want not: how can we reduce food waste, one of the biggest environmental challenges of the 21st century?”, Connecting the Dots: The Food, Energy, Water, and Climate Nexus, Stanford University, April 17, 2015.
“Doctoral Research in Operations Management at Stanford and applying operations management to environmental sustainability issues.” Presentation at Research for Engineering Undergraduates (REU) Summer Program, Stanford University. August 20, 2014.
“Reducing food waste and the ecological footprint of the food supply chain”, Fulbright Science and Technology Capstone Conference at the U.S. Department of State, Washington D.C., June 17, 2014.
“Food Waste: A Business Opportunity”, Social Innovation Summit at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford, November 19, 2013.
“How can operations management approaches be used to reduce system-wide food waste and its environmental impact?”, INFORMS 2013 conference, Minneapolis, October 7, 2013.
“How can operations management approaches be used to reduce system-wide food waste and its environmental impact?”, Stanford INFORMS student group, Stanford, June 2013.