- MSc. Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems, UBC, 2012 – 2015
- BSc. Agroecology, Faculty of Land and Food Systems, UBC, 2010 – 2012
- Political Science and Women’s Studies, McGill, 2000 – 2004
Bio
Jessica completed their M.Sc. in the Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems program in 2015, working under the supervision of Dr. Hannah Wittman.
Their broad research interests are sustainable agriculture, agroecology, food sovereignty, farmland protection and access, and agricultural land use policy and planning. Jessica has an academic background in political science, gender studies and agrocecology. They returned to school in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC after working several years as a farm hand on Vancouver Island and continued to work as farm labourer as well as a field research assistant a the UBC Farm while in graduate school.
Jessica carried out a field research project in conjunction with Dr. Hannah Wittman and Dr. Mark Johnson to assess the feasibility of on-farm small scale biochar production and the potential of biochar for soil fertility management in BC’s organic agriculture sector. Jessica also collaborated on the Farmland Access project led by Dr. Hannah Wittman and hosted by the UBC Centre for Sustainable Food Systems.
Master’s Thesis
Emerging farmer movements and alternative land access initiatives in British Columbia, Canada.
This research aims to better understand the issue of young farmer attrition through an analysis of the barriers to farm entry and establishment faced by young and beginning farmers in British Columbia. The potential of alternative models and mechanisms to private agricultural land ownership (cooperatives, community farms, land trusts, incubator farms, public land access) are being assessed as a means for supporting farmland protection, increasing farmland accessibility, and contributing to food sovereignty in BC.
Selected Publications and Project Links
Wittman, H., Dennis., J. & Pritchard, H. (2017). Beyond the market? New agrarianism and cooperative farmland access in North America. Journal of Rural Studies, 53, 303-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.03.007
Dennis and H. Wittman. (2014). Farmland Access in British Columbia. Final Project Summary Report.
Wittman and J. Dennis. (2014). Real Estate Foundation of BC Guest Blog Post: Strengthening Regional Food Systems through Alternative Models of Farmland Access.
Dennis. Young Agrarians – Guest Blog Posts
Dennis and Kelvin C.S. Kou. (2013). Evaluating the agronomic benefits of biochar amended soils in an organic system: Results from a field study at the UBC Farm, Vancouver. (Final Project Report)
Dennis. (2012). Amending for soil quality and carbon sequestration. BC Organic Grower, 15:(2). http://certifiedorganic.bc.ca/publications/bcog/issues/Vol15N2.pdf
Dennis, Mark Johnson, and H. Wittman. (2012) Biochar Manual for Small Farms in BC (Final Project Report)