Ashmita Das (she/her) is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist passionate about community-engaged research and involving diverse publics in environmental decision-making. She holds a PhD in environmental science from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, where she studied the intersecting social, political, and economic factors that influence the ecology of how food is produced, distributed, and consumed. Her dissertation research examined the socio-ecological drivers and effects of agricultural technology use, with an emphasis on understanding diverse stakeholder perspectives toward the potential sustainability impacts of new gene editing techniques such as CRISPR-Cas9. Das is excited to apply her skills and expertise to equitably advancing environmental and agricultural research and policy initiatives in New York State.