For our Division of Applied Social Sciences faculty, staff and students, research means studying how people, organizations, communities and businesses can best achieve their goals and make a difference in the global food and agriculture system as well as rural communities.

Our research touches diverse disciplines, including:

• community development
• communication
• economic and rural development
• education
• governance
• management
• operations
• policy
• sustainability

By conducting research in these areas, we strive to discover insights that people in the food and agriculture system — leaders, educators, managers, opinion leaders and volunteers — can apply to do their jobs better, lead better, communicate better and ultimately enable our world’s food and agriculture system to function better.

Through the division’s centers and extension programs, our faculty, staff, undergraduate students and graduate students collaborate and perform research, outreach and engagement. To support our research, extension and engagement programming, we seek grant funding from federal agencies and other organizations, and we share our results in journals, research briefs, trade media and other publications.