Hi, I’m Rafter Ferguson. I do research and education on a variety of topics that generally orbit around the themes of sustainable agriculture, racial justice, and climate resilience. I’ve worked on projects focusing on agroforestry, farmworker health, permaculture, racial justice, farmland consolidation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and grassroots farmer-centered development. That work has mostly takes the form of quantitative and qualitative research and popular education.
After receiving my Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and postdoctoral work at the University of Lisbon and Haverford College, I spent three years in the Food and Environment program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. There I worked on projects addressing racial equity in agriculture, helped steward relationships with grassroots partners and tribal organizations, authored blogs including Why We Can’t Separate Justice and Sustainability in the Food System.
Now I work as a consultant and hold the position of Senior Researcher at the Regenerative Design Group Cooperative.
In my free time, I’ve been foraging wild mushrooms for about 20 years. I live and work in Greenfield, MA.