Julia Tschersich is currently working as a visiting research scholar at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the Environmental Studies department from March to June 2019. The University has a reputation as being a center for Critical Food Studies, challenging power relations, racial issues and knowledge discourses in food and agriculture. Her sponsor, Julia Guthman, has published widely on this topic, including her co-edited book “The New Food Activism: Opposition, Cooperation, and Collective Action” with Alison Hope Alkon. Besides Critical Food Studies, many researchers focus on social movements, environmental governance and political change. The University hosts diverse insightful events and talks, for instance its weekly Environmental Studies lecture series. For instance, Maywa Montenegro de Wit, a Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Davis, presented her work on the Open Source Seed Initiative in the US and their struggles for seed freedom. The University also hosts a student-run Demeter Seed Library, which contributes to conserving plant genetic diversity by saving seeds, cataloguing them and distributing them to farmers and gardeners. The campus is beautifully located amongst the famous Californian Redwoods and offers a perfect location for engaging in environmental research.