I’m the Melvin Kranzberg Professor in the History of Technology at the School of History and Sociology at Georgia Tech. I research and teach the history of recent science and technology, especially as it relates to food and agriculture.
Since August 2020, I’ve led the project From Collection to Cultivation, funded by the Wellcome Trust. This team of researchers is re-writing the history of how today’s food crops came to be. The project is based in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, where I worked from 2012–2022.
From Collection to Cultivation has its origins in my study of history of efforts to conserve diverse varieties of food crops. This history was the focus of a Pro Futura Scientia Fellowship from 2017–2020 and a Wellcome Seed Award from 2016–17. It is also the subject of my 2022 book, Endangered Maize.
