Emilie Vansant

Emilie Vansant is a postdoc at the University of Copenhagen, where she conducts research on how diversified agriculture can reduce planetary boundary transgressions. Her previous PhD and Postdoc focused on the links between tree-based farming practices and dietary quality in Malawi. Her projects involved collaborating with rural communities and local organizations to co-design tools supporting nutrition-oriented tree-planting schemes – with an emphasis on amplifying knowledge around the cultivation and use of native fruit tree species.

More broadly, Emilie is an interdisciplinary scientist driven by a commitment to understanding and addressing complex planetary health challenges - specifically food systems transformations. She has conducted research in India, Guatemala, Malaysia, Norway, France, and Malawi. Early in her career, Emilie completed fellowships at both a small NGO (Semilla Nueva) and later at the International Center for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) - where she was involved in research monitoring, impact evaluation, and outreach. She holds a dual-degree MSc in Agroecology from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and ISARA-Lyon, France. In 2023, she received a PhD in Geography from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.