I was thrilled to start my mandate in early September as J.W. McConnell Professor of Practice for 2025-26 at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, my alma mater where I did my Master’s degree. This opportunity gives me the time and resources to follow through on some unfinished publication projects as well as design and teach a course on the topic of food systems transformation in global perspective. I’m grateful for the funding from the McConnell Foundation to make this possible.
It’s been thrilling to collaborate with the School’s Director, Jennifer Welsh, as well as other colleagues. Many thanks all of them for the warm welcome. Je suis également impressionnée par la qualité et l’engagement de la nouvelle cohorte du programme de maîtrise en politiques publiques, et je me réjouis à l’idée de passer plus de temps à Montréal – en moyenne deux journées par semaine. Nous avons eu un excellent programme à Ottawa il y a quelques semaine auquel j’ai pu participé.
I’ve already hired two brilliant research assistants from among the MPP cohort. For World Food Day on October 16th, I published an article in Max Policy – a collection of provocative ideas and policy solutions generated by the minds at the Max Bell School of Public Policy – entitled Challenges and Opportunities for Food System Transformation. The piece summarizes the policy recommendations of a a number of recent key reports on the topic.
I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to, once again, participate in the Banff Forum from October 16-18th – this time in beautiful Québec City. The theme of this 24th edition was Vive le Canada?: Quebec, Canada, the United States, and the World. The quality of the program and participants was, as usual, stellar. It was great to reconnect with familiar faces and meet brilliant new people.
Je tiens à remercier les membres du Conseil d’administration et les employés Lydia Blanchard et Sophie Laflèche pour leur beau travail ainsi que les conférenciers et commanditaires. Je suis vraiment choyée d’avoir la chance de participer dans un tel forum de politiques publics depuis le tout début pour mieux comprendre les enjeux dans un environnement toujours en évolution.
