The School of Engineering at Tufts University is home to a broad range of academic offerings from chemical to civic to environmental engineering. Each field has a role to play in food systems, as biotechnology is applied to nutrition, agriculture, and healthcare, while mechanical and civil engineering are needed to improve the infrastructure needed to created a sustainable food system. Those interested in engineering in food systems should explore the School of Engineering site, where academic programs, research, and faculty are listed. Students should reach out to program and research directors directly to see how they can fit in to the work going on. Below are some groups that feature food systems in their work. If you know of other research groups, academic programs, or other activities at the School of Engineering that should be listed here, please let us know!
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has research themes closely linked to food systems: climate and energy, health and environment, extreme events, and resilient systems. Each of these themes are important to understanding healthy and unhealthy food systems and to design and engineer a sustainable food system for the future. The following groups operate within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Learn more about the Department here!
WE REASoN (Water and Environmental Research, Education, and Actionable Solutions Network) is a group focused on the interdisciplinary understanding of complex water issues. Of course, without water there can be no food, and so water systems are essential parts of food systems. This group focuses on three research areas, hydroclimatology, hydroepidemiology, and water diplomacy. They work to address gaps in existing understanding of these issues and to provide insight into how to build a more sustainable and healthy future. Find out more about WE REASoN here!
The Environmental Sustainability Lab also focuses on water issues, particularly contaminants, from an interdisciplinary lens. Learn more about the Environmental Sustainability Lab here!
The Initiative for the Forecasting and Modeling of Infectious Diseases (InForMID) is a group focused on training students and answering research questions in computational epidemiology, conservation medicine, biostatistics, and bioinformatics with the emphasis on public health applications. These areas can be readily applied to food systems, as modeling the efficiency and health of the systems that make up food systems is necessary to build a sustainable future. Learn more about the InForMID group here!
The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering hosts many research activities that are unrelated to food systems, but also includes labs like Synthetic Biology & Systems Bioengineering lab. This lab works on devising new industrial and agricultural applications through biology. Students interested in bridging this work with food systems should find out more about this lab here.