Patricia Biermayr-Jenzano, Adjunct Professor
Dr. Patricia Biermayr-Jenzano is a social scientist and gender specialist who has worked extensively to develop research approaches and gender analysis in relation to the feminization of agriculture. She holds an MS and PhD in Agricultural Extension and Social Anthropology from Cornell University, NY and an Agricultural Engineering degree in Plant Science from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her research and applied work has deep roots in Participatory Action Research (PAR) theory and practice while she has been deeply involved on mainstreaming gender in agriculture and conservation-related efforts. Currently, she is a Sustainable Development and Agriculture Professor at the Center for Latin America Studies, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and an Adjunct Professor for the Women and Gender Studies (WGST) and Environmental Studies (ENST) at Georgetown University, in Washington DC. Dr. Biermayr-Jenzano conducts grounded research on women farmers’ work, patterns of discrimination and empowerment, gender and food security, women’s access to productive assets such as land, seeds, seeds systems, as well as their contributions in participatory plant breeding (PPB) and participatory varietal selection (PVS) strategies. Finally, she enjoys working with students in a variety of topics and conducting action-oriented programs and projects with them. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband Thomas and son Brandon.