Goldsmith Sustainable Agriculture Fund

The Goldsmith Sustainable Agriculture Fund at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy is dedicated to advancing research at the intersection of energy policy, sustainable agriculture, and climate policy. Our focus is on sustainable agriculture practices, policies, and science and technology that alleviate adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts. This initiative strives to deliver meaningful interdisciplinary outcomes and establish a foundation for long-term impact.

Energy-Agriculture Nexus

The energy-agriculture nexus, a distinct, bidirectional framework, anchors our multi-year research and policy agenda. Organized along the agricultural value chain, the agenda highlights key differences between the Global North and Global South while addressing cross-cutting systems such as climate finance; monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV); and policy coherence.

Read the Working Paper

Three Core Themes

Upstream
Energy

Fertilizers, pesticides, decarbonization

On the Farm
and Beyond 

Irrigation, mechanization,
post-harvest

Agriculture
as Energy

Bioenergy and agrivoltaics

Announcement

Climate + Agriculture Exchange

This new collaboration with Penn Climate brings together Penn expertise at the nexus of climate and agriculture. 

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Our Work

All Agriculture Publications

All Agriculture Research Projects

At this time, we have no scheduled events. Please check back soon for updates.

Research Assistant

Alondra Betancourt

Sustainable Agriculture Fund Research Assistant
Agriculture
Alondra Betancourt is a research assistant with the Sustainable Agriculture Fund at the Kleinman Center. Betancourt was also a 2024 Undergraduate Student Fellow.
Penn Energy Expert

Heather Huntington

Director, Penn Development Research Institute-DevLab
Agriculture, Access & Equity
Heather Huntington is the executive director of the Penn Development Research Institute-DevLab. Her research interests include land tenure, land administration, natural resource management.
Penn Energy Expert

Allison Lassiter

Assistant Professor, City and Regional Planning
Agriculture
Allison Lassiter is an assistant professor of city and regional planning at the Weitzman School of Design. Her work examines opportunities to use landscape infrastructure and emerging technologies to build resilience and increase adaptive capacity.
Research Assistant

Shubham Love

Sustainable Agriculture Fund Research Assistant
Agriculture
Shubham Love is a a research assistant with the Sustainable Agriculture Fund at the Kleinman Center. He is a graduate student specializing in environmental policy.
Penn Energy Expert

Irina Marinov

Associate Professor, Earth and Environmental Science
Climate, Agriculture
Irina Marinov is a climate scientist and an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the department of Earth and Environmental Science.
Penn Energy Expert

Samantha McBride

Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, SEAS
Agriculture, Emerging Tech
Samantha McBride is the William K. Gemmill Term Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania.
Penn Energy Expert

Laia Mogas-Soldevila

Assistant Professor of Architecture, Weitzman School
Agriculture, Cities & Buildings
Laia Mogas-Soldevila is an Assistant Professor of Graduate Architecture and Director of DumoLab Research at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania.
Penn Energy Expert

Thomas Parsons

Director, Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food
Agriculture
Thomas Parsons is the Marie A. Moore Professor of Animal Welfare and Ethics at the School of Veterinary Medicine, New Bolton Center. He directs the Center for Stewardship Agriculture and Food at PennVet.
Penn Energy Expert

Laurel E. Redding

Associate Professor of Epidemiology, PennVet
Agriculture
Laurel E. Redding is a associate professor of epidemiology at PennVet. She is also the director of the Human-Animal Health Interface at Penn Vet’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Safety.
Penn Energy Expert

Domenic Vitiello

Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning, Weitzman
Agriculture, Cities & Buildings
Domenic Vitiello is an associate professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning in the Weitzman School of Design.
Penn Energy Expert

Erik Wibbels

Penn Compact Professor, Political Science
Climate, Agriculture
Erik Wibbels is the Presidential Penn Compact Professor of Political Science and co-director of PDRI-DevLab at the University of Pennsylvania. He is part of the Machine Learning for Peace project.

The challenges in agriculture and energy are deeply intertwined. Our goal is to develop a comprehensive research agenda that advances sustainable agriculture and integrates broader energy and climate discourse.

Thabo Lenneiye, ManAGING Director

Staff Leadership

Thabo Lenneiye

Managing Director, Goldsmith Sustainable Agriculture Fund

Thabo Lenneiye is the managing director of the Sustainable Agriculture Fund. She’s responsible for operationalizing the fund, launching initiatives focused on sustainable agriculture, and framing a research agenda that intersects with energy policy.

Special Thanks



The Goldsmith Sustainable Agriculture Fund, established through a generous gift from alumnus Carl H. Goldsmith (W’88), advances research at the intersection of energy and agriculture, anchored at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

Interested in working with us? We would love to hear from you.