Emilie Vansant

Emilie Vansant

I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen in Denmark. For my PhD research (within the FORESTDIET project), I investigated how trees in agricultural landscapes are linked to people’s dietary quality in rural Malawi. My results laid the foundation for my postdoctoral research (TREETOOL project) – where I am building a toolkit to support nutrition-oriented tree planting projects in Malawi. 

Overall, I have a strong passion for strengthening the link between food security policy and agriculture research to improve our ecologically unsustainable and socially inequitable food system. Throughout my studies and professional experiences, I have had the chance to conduct fieldwork in many different countries, including Malawi, India, Norway, France, Guatemala, and Malaysia. In doing so, I have developed a strong capacity to holistically address agrifood system issues, using a research approach that emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration and stakeholder engagement.

2023 PhD, Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

2019 Dual Degree MSc, Agroecology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) in partnership

with ISARA-Lyon, France

2016 BS, International Relations and Environmental Studies, Tufts University, Boston, USA 

2023-2025      Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, UCPH

2020-2023      PhD Fellow, Dept. of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, UCPH

2020                Research Fellow, International Center for Agriculture Research in Dry Areas

2016-2017      Agricultural Research Fellow, Semilla Nueva, Guatemala

2015                Student in International Training, SIT Food Lab: Sikkim, India

2015                Research/Translation Intern, Alianza Por la Solidaridad, Spain

2020               International Center for Agriculture Research in Dry Areas, Research Fellow – Remote

2016-2017     Semilla Nueva, Agricultural Research Fellow – Guatemala City, Guatemala

Office: 6.2.641

emilie.vansant@gmail.com