Kathryn De Master received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. Katheryn was a Lecturer at the Nelson Institute, as well as an honorary fellow at the University of Wisconsin's Land Tenure Center. Her scholarship emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to environmental issues. Kathryn's research and teaching primarily explore local and sustainable agro-food systems, organic farming, global agriculture issues, European Union agri-environmental policies, environmental sociology and political ecology. Her dissertation, supported by the Kosciuszko Foundation and entitled "Waking Up to the European Dream: The Shifting Landscapes of Polish Organic Farming," emphasizes the socioeconomic transitions, environmental impacts, and changing policy regulations facing Poland's organic farmers, in the context of Poland's recent (2004) entry into the European Union.
Kathryn DeMaster will be joining the CES faculty as Visiting Assistant Professor in July, 2009. She will be teaching ENVS0110; Humans, Nature, and the Environment: Addressing Environmental Change in the 21st Century.