As the Director of Science Programs for The Organic Center, Dr. Amber Sciligo, PhD works closely with researchers, industry, farmers, and policymakers to identify organic research needs, facilitate project implementation and communicate scientific results across the organic sector. She leads the Center’s reports compiling current science on critical issues affecting organic food and farming and also heads The Center’s grant writing program. Dr. Sciligo received her PhD at Lincoln University, New Zealand in Ecology and Evolution with a specialty in plant/insect interactions. Her extensive postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley included several interdisciplinary projects that focused on population structure and health of honeybees and bumblebees in California. It also included participatory research in land access for Latino farmers in the CA Central Coast, native bee pollination services to strawberry crops, and the costs/benefits to diversified farming within the organic sector using an integrated environmental, social and economic framework. The main goals of her work have been to understand how farming practices that promote biodiversity and important ecosystem services can be more broadly adopted, and to inform research and policies to better include the needs of farmers so that their businesses can thrive, while preserving the land for future farming. Dr. Sciligo most recently conducted sustainability consulting in Ag and Food Production & Research.