Biography

Kathryn Draeger is Statewide Director for the U of M Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships and adjunct professor of Agronomy and Plant Genetics. She oversees statewide programming in sustainable development, including clean energy and sustainable ag and food systems. Dr. Draeger is currently principle investigator on USDA-AFRI-NIFA grant to develop innovative supply chains for locally produced food as well as other sustainable ag related efforts. She has been a Bush Leadership Fellowship and a MacArthur Scholar. She served as an Environmental Protection Commissioner in Iowa and was appointed to the Governor’s Roundtable for Sustainable Development in Minnesota. Before joining the U she founded two successful corporations Sustainability International, Inc. and Environmental Ground, Inc. In 2007, Kathy and her family moved to rural Big Stone County MN to live and farm sustainably. Kathy holds a doctorate in water resources and master’s in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota. Kathy enjoys flying parafoil kites (spring, summer, fall) and doing Liberty puzzles (winter)