Tricia Jenkins

Tricia Jenkins is an assistant professor of Urban Food Systems in the College of Applied and Professional Studies at K-State Olathe. She teaches and advises graduate students in the urban food systems master's degree program, which is a specialization in horticulture. Jenkins has a 60% teaching and 40% research appointment. Her current teaching schedule includes Farm to Fork Produce Safety, Professional Development in Urban Food Systems, Urban Food Systems, Health-Promoting Phytochemicals of Fruits and Vegetables, Interdisciplinary Process, and Urban Food System Policy and Governance.

Jenkins' research program employs interdisciplinary and community-engaged approaches to enhance local food systems, with a particular focus on urban farming and postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables. She currently co-manages the Postharvest Physiology Lab at K-State Olathe.

Her current research projects include developing a metric system for urban food system resilience, conducting community and agriculture resilience audits in the Kansas City Metro, and investing plastic-alternative packaging for fresh produce that maintains product quality and reduces environmental impacts from local supply chains.

Ph.D. in Horticulture, Kansas State University, 2021