Hi there!
I’m Catherine, a graduate student at NUI Galway pursuing a Masters of Science in Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. I will be partnering with CIAT in Hanoi, Vietnam to complete my thesis research. My research will be focused on identifying suitable channels to improve the delivery of climate information services to marginalized coffee farmers in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.
I received my Bachelor’s degree from Pace University in New York City where I double majored in Communications and Peace & Justice Studies. During undergrad I interned at a couple hunger relief organizations, this was when my passion for sustainable and just food systems started to develop.
After graduating I returned home to the Washington, DC area and spent two years working in government relations and policy in the healthcare sector. However, as I spent a large chunk of my free time cooking, gardening, perusing farmers markets and reading about the environment, I knew it was time for a change.
The MScCCAFS program appealed to me because of its comprehensive nature and the unique opportunity to conduct research in connection with CGIAR. It doesn’t hurt that the program is based in an incredibly charming Irish city. For those reasons and more, it stood out as a great program to kickstart a career researching and developing sustainable agriculture and food systems under a changing climate.