46th Annual Conference and
2010 Future Leaders Forum

June 6-9, 2010

"Linking Agriculture, Nutrition and Health: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Development"

Speakers and Panelists

Maria Elisa Christie, Virginia Tech

Dr. Maria Elisa Christie is Program Director for Women in International Development at Virginia Tech. She has over twenty years of experience in international development and environment working with a variety of development, research, and policy NGOs throughout the developing world and with local, state, and federal governments in the US and Mexico. She has played a key role launching new projects that support international collaboration. Currently, Dr. Christie heads global gender research projects in the Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP), the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management CRSP, and in Peanut CRSP. Dr. Christie's research focuses on gendered spaces and everyday life in nature/society relations, participatory research methodologies, kitchens and gardens, and women's reciprocity networks.

As Program Director for Women in International Development, Dr. Christie's role is to provide leadership within International Programs to ensure that all projects and programs are gender sensitive and will have a positive effect on the most disadvantaged beneficiaries, many of whom are women, and to work with faculty at Virginia Tech in order to increase their capacity to effectively address gender issues in international research and grant proposals.

Dr. Christie's 2010 Presentation