Undergraduate Research Initiatives

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Program in Community and Agroecology (PICA)

PICA is a living/learning program, located in UCSC's Lower Quarry Village, that focuses on the link between healthy communities and healthy food systems. Its primary academic mission is to provide students with opportunities to integrate cultural and ecological knowledge to achieve sustainability.

Questions being addressed include:

• How do issues of environmental quality and social justice interact in sustainable communities?
• How does an understanding of ecology inform farmers' decisions about farming practices?
• What impact can consumer choice have on how farmers design and manage their farming systems?
• What roles do imagination, persuasion, and creativity play in shaping social change and in sustaining communities?

Contacts:
Stephen Gliessman, Alfred Heller Professor of Agroecology, Environmental Studies

Bee Vadakan, PICA Program Manager

Sarah Rabkin, Lecturer in Writing, Environmental Studies

PICA @ the Village brochure (pdf)