Meredith Niles


Meredith T. Niles is an American environmental scientist who is the Robert L. Bickford Endowed Professor at the University of Vermont. In 2022, she was named the National Academy of Medicine Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar.
WWW meredithtniles.com

Early life and education

Niles is from Maryland. She was an undergraduate student in politics and environmental studies at Catholic University of America. She became interested in food systems after studying a module on food politics. She moved to the University of California for her doctoral research, where she worked in ecology and agricultural innovation. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, where studied climate smart agriculture.

Research and career

Niles worked for the United States Department of State on the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. She was in the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator.
Niles is a food systems scientist who looks to understand and improve the global food system. She focuses on sustainable production and improving food outcomes during crises. In particular, she has worked with farmers to better understand the barriers to adopting more sustainable practices. She has explored how farmers adapt their behavior to account for a changing climate.
Niles is the founding Director of the National Food Access and COVID research Team, a research group who monitored how the pandemic impacted diet and nutritional security.

Awards and honors

Selected publications

*