CBEY Regenerative Agriculture Initiative: Request for Proposals!

The CBEY Regenerative Agriculture Initiative (RAI) was founded in the spring of 2019 to 1) support Yale graduate student research on regenerative agriculture, and 2) to inspire and educate decision-makers to support and invest in regenerative agriculture models. 

Students interested in agriculture have an exciting opportunity to build on a successful first year by exploring research questions important to them and connecting with innovative practitioners. CBEY invites returning students to propose new project ideas to pursue in the coming year. 

Proposals should specify:

  • a compelling research question, 

  • project goal, 

  • target audience, 

  • team membership, 

  • key mentors, 

  • a high-level research methodology, 

  • a plan for engagement with the Yale community, 

  • timeline, and 

  • budget.

Projects will be evaluated upon (in order of importance): 

  1. Excitement, passion, and commitment to the project

  2. The relevance of the research question to the target audience

  3. The methodology’s alignment with the research question 

  4. Thoughtful plan for sharing learnings/process with the Yale community

  5. A reasonable timeline and budget 

As the RAI goes forward, we invite the iteration and development of its existing format and goals. Student projects could expand the current scope of the regenerative agriculture ecosystem in the U.S. or choose to go deeper into investigating specific issues (such as innovative financing vehicles, policy and insurance reform, market development, farmer training, and decision-making, consolidation of input industry, the transition of farmland ownership, etc.). The form of this project could vary based on student interest (e.g. independent study, research job, travel vs on-campus engagement). 

Please send proposals by July 17th to: 

  • Stuart DeCew (stuart.decew@yale.edu)

  • Heather Fitzgerald (heather.fitzgerald@yale.edu)