My general research interest is the role of agriculture in balancing resource use and distribution with human population and consumption. Specific topics include local and scientific epistemology and knowledge, plant breeding and biotechnology, conservation of crop genetic resources, population dynamics and agricultural change, small-scale farming and household gardens, and development policy.

Current and recent research

• 2008-2010. Transgenic crops in Pacific Rim centers of origin and diversity: Farmers, risk assessment and sustainable development in China and Mexico. Funded by UC Pacific Rim Program. (Co-Investigator.)
• 2007–2009.  The value of land: Agriculture, food and urbanization in the Goleta Valley, California. Funded by UCSB Academic Senate. (Principle Investigator.)
• 2006–08. Tejate in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca: Cuisine, history, nutrition, tradition, and the conservation of maize diversity. Funded by UC-MEXUS-CONACYT. (Collaborator.)
• 2004-2008. Transgene flow and its effects in small-scale Third World and alternative agriculture. This research is part of the larger project, Spatiotemporal dynamics of engineered crop genes: natural and human constraints and consequences. Funded by the NSF. (Co-Principle Investigator.)
• 2004-2005. Genetically engineered crop varieties and farmers selling food in the Goleta Valley, Santa Barbara County, California: Farming characteristics and knowledge and attitudes towards GE crops. Funded by the Faculty Senate, UCSB. (Co-Principle Investigator.)
• 2003-2004. Bringing farmers' knowledge, practice and values into the discussion of transgenes in traditionally based agricultural systems in Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico. Funded by the Wallace Genetic Foundation. (Co-Principle Investigator.)
• 1999-2003. Values, Knowledge and Practice in Plant Breeding for Sustainable Agriculture: Differences Among Breeders and the Possibility for Collaboration with Farmers. Funded by the NSF. (Principle Investigator.)