Ray Goldberg Fellowship in Global Food Systems

The Ray Goldberg Student Fellowship supports Harvard students across the spectrum of food systems whether their interests lie in food policy, farmworker equity, nutrition science, or supply chain management.

About the fellowship

The purpose of the fellowship is to support Harvard students working in the context of global food systems, which may include work related to agricultural systems, food supply chains, farmer and farmworker well-being and equity, agricultural economics, food justice and sovereignty, agricultural processing and industry, food science and nutrition, hunger, or food policy. The fellowship is designed to enable students to expose themselves to a wide range of researchers and research approaches, and/or non-profit and private sector organizations, early on in their training before they make their ultimate choice of a research or career topic.

Award

We plan to award between one and three grants of up to $7,500 each per academic year. The award can be used for a variety of activities including support for an independent research project, internship, or collaboration with other researchers having limited or no funds to support the participation of an award recipient. Prior awards provided funds to conduct field work, attend conferences, learn a foreign language in a host country, or visit leading scholars, practitioners, and research institutions.

Applying for the fellowship

Eligibility & Expectations

Eligibility

Applications will be accepted from students enrolled full time in any degree-granting program at Harvard University at any level: undergraduate, masters, and doctoral.

Expectations

Recipients will be required to submit a progress report on use of the funds in September and may be invited to make a presentation about their work.

Application Information

Application deadline

The deadline for 2026 was on March 23. The spring 2027 deadline will be posted in December.

Application process

Candidates should submit both:

The Goldberg Fellowship online application cover sheet including file upload of their Harvard transcript (unofficial version is acceptable). The link to apply will go live on this page after February 1.
Their student application submitted by email as a single pdf file, containing:
- One-page cover letter summarizing why this opportunity will benefit them;
- A description of what they would do with the support, including a title and budget (2 pages maximum); and
- Resume or CV.

The pdf file with your application should be labeled with your Goldberg_Fellowship_lastname_firstname (e.g., Goldberg_Fellowship_Smith_Jane).

Applications should be emailed to emily_baird@hks.harvard.edu and include, in the subject heading, “Goldberg Fellowship application – [Your first and last name],” e.g., Goldberg Fellowship application – Jane Smith.

Selection Process

Selection will be made by a committee of Harvard faculty and staff. The applicants will be assessed on the quality of their proposed research and the intellectual rigor and relevance to the student's previous work.

2026 Ray Goldberg Fellowship recipients

Isabel Adler

Dual-degree MPP/MBA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

As a Goldberg Fellow and summer Strategy Intern with AquaSteady, Isabel Adler supports an NSF-funded Pratt Institute initiative commercializing a seaweed-based hydrogel that stores 500 times its weight in water to help farmers grow more food with less water. In her role, she conducts direct farmer interviews and writes compelling communications materials to prepare the lab initiative for its transition into an on-the-market agricultural product. By bridging customer needs with investor presentations, Isabel helps drive AquaSteady’s mission to enhance soil drought resistance and protect global food security in an era of climate change.

Klara Kuemmerle

PhD Student, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University

Supported by the 2026 Goldberg Fellowship, Klara Kuemmerle is investigating how shifting monsoon variability and extreme rainfall impact agricultural viability, rural livelihoods, and public health across India. Her project pairs quantitative climate data analysis with field research alongside SEWA and climate scientists at IITM Pune to uncover how intraseasonal rainfall shifts drive crop risk. By connecting hydroclimate science directly to on-the-ground farming decisions, her research helps build adaptive resilience for vulnerable agricultural communities facing deep climate uncertainty.

Sophia Mills

Senior in Government and Economics, Harvard College

In her project, "The Role of Regulations: Political Institutions and Dietary Health Policy in Brazil and the United States," 2026 Goldberg Fellow Sophia Mills investigates why Brazil regulates ultra-processed foods far more aggressively than the U.S. despite lower consumption rates. Through fieldwork in São Paulo, Brasília, and Rio de Janeiro, she analyzes how universal healthcare, participatory governance, and school feeding programs make dietary social costs politically actionable. Her research aims to offer insights for advocates and policymakers striving to strengthen food environments and public health systems globally.

Fellowship outcomes

Several former fellows shared their most impactful fellowship experiences and how their research and professional lives have been affected by the support of the Ray Goldberg Fellowship.

2025

Jasper Döninghaus

“The Ray Goldberg Fellowship gave me the means to take a research question I had been working on theoretically and test it in the field. Speaking directly with producers, retailers and consumers about carbon labelling changed how I think about the gap between the information we give people and what actually shifts their behaviour. It was the most formative part of my time at HKS.”— Jasper Döninghaus

2025

Adarsh Kumar

A dual-degree candidate at Harvard Kennedy School (MPP) and MIT Sloan (MBA), Adarsh works at the intersection of climate and development finance in food systems. He established the "Thought for Food" fireside chat series as Chair of the HKS Food and Agriculture PIC, and serves as Managing Director of MIT's Water, Food, and Agriculture Prize, the largest pitch competition for early-stage, student-led ventures in food and water systems. His career spans economic consulting and research, and climate-tech entrepreneurship.

“The Goldberg Fellowship let me chase a question I care deeply about: how do we identify and finance the most promising solutions at the intersection of climate-tech, development, and food systems? Through the fellowship I got to spend my summer in Nairobi at Equator, a leading climate VC backing early-stage startups in Sub-Saharan Africa, sourcing and diligencing ventures across fertilizers, plant-based proteins, agricultural supply chains, and agro-processing. I am proudest of building the fund's investment thesis for biochar, which informs their approach to investing in that sector. I am grateful to the Goldberg Fellowship and to Prof. Wolfram Schlenker, whose guidance turned a long-held curiosity about agriculture in the developing world into field experience that still shapes my work.”— Adarsh Kumar

2019

Marissa Saenger

Marissa Saenger was an undergraduate candidate at Harvard College ’20 concentrating in environmental science and engineering. Through self-guided reading and research, she developed an interest in carbon farming: a collection of land management practices integrating biological systems and climate change mitigation.

“The fellowship helped introduce me not only to postgraduate research in a new field, but also enabled me to explore new parts of the United States and gain understanding of specific climate and food system challenges there...The fellowship was invaluable in helping shape my postgraduate trajectory and providing me the opportunity to refine my research skills and interests.”— Marissa Saenger

2015

Jess Newman

A dual-degree graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School (MPP) and MIT Sloan (MBA), Jess organized the first Food+ Research Symposium on the nexus of food, agriculture, environment, health, and society. The Global Food+ Symposium continues as a collaboration among Boston area universities to connect a vibrant, interdisciplinary community of food academics. Her career has centered on corporate supply chains, sustainability, and direct grower relationships, including previous leadership of the Agriculture Team at Anheuser-Busch InBev. Named to Forbes’ 2018 30 Under 30 – Energy list, Jess is Senior Director of Ag & Sustainability at McCain Foods.

“The Goldberg Fellowship gave me the freedom and focus to pursue my career pivot from international development to work on regenerative agriculture and sustainability in American agriculture…. I owe so much both to Ray and to the fellowship in his name that enabled me to pursue my passion.”— Jess Newman

2015

Alicia Harley

Alicia Harley earned her PhD in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. During her fellowship she studied innovation in agriculture systems, aiming to aid our understanding of how to govern innovation to improve the well-being of small and marginal farmers. She used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, relying heavily on organizational behavior and institutional approaches in political science. Alicia is now a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Sustainability Science Program, where she leads the Capacity Building for Sustainable Development (C4SD) research project.

“The Goldberg Fellowship funded fieldwork at a formative stage of my research, giving me the flexibility to follow unexpected questions across multiple states and cases in India. That experience shaped how I think about sustainable development: as requiring strategic capacities—to promote equity, adapt to shocks, transform pathways, and link knowledge with action—that must be deliberately built and maintained.”— Alicia Harley

Past Ray Goldberg Fellows

A list of past fellows will be added here.

Ray Goldberg sitting in a classroom smiling

About Ray Goldberg

Ray Goldberg was George M. Moffett Professor of Agriculture and Business, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School where he founded the Agribusiness Senior Management Seminars.

He taught a course at the Harvard Kennedy School on Food Policy and Agribusiness and a junior tutorial seminar at Harvard College on Climate and Its Impact on the Global Food System.

He co-founded and moderated the Private and Public, Scientific, Academic, and Consumer Food Policy Group (PAPSAC) which has met annually at the Harvard Kennedy School since the early 1990s. PAPSAC is a university-wide seminar to broaden communication among farmers, business leaders, scientists, public policy leaders, academics, not for profits, and consumer activists on topics of mutual concern to participants of the global food system and the society that it serves.

Sponsorship

The fellowship was inaugurated by an anonymous gift from a Harvard Business School alumnus.