M. Jahi Chappell is trained as an agroecologist and political ecologist. As Director of Agroecology and Agriculture Policy at the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, he leads IATP in analyzing and developing actions and policies to create a sustainable, decentralized, and deeply democratic food and agriculture system. Before coming to IATP, he was assistant professor of environmental science and justice at Washington State University. He has worked with and consulted for La Via Campesina, the City of Belo Horizonte (Brazil), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Future Council, and the urban agriculture nonprofits Growing Hope (Ypsilanti, MI) and Growing Gardens (Portland, OR). He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and conducted postdoctoral research at Cornell University. He served as Chair of the Agroecology Section of the Ecological Society of America from 2012–14.
