Kelsey Whiting

Kelsey Whiting is the Perennial Grain Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Postdoctoral Researcher at The Land Institute, where she works to advance the large-scale adoption of perennial grains and perennial polyculture by engaging in public policy. She earned her Ph.D. in Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of Minnesota, studying wild populations for traits of interest in crop breeding programs for the potential perennial oilseed crop, Silflower. During her time as a Ph.D. student, she was a Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research Fellow. Before graduate school, she earned a bachelor’s in Biology from Bethel College. Although originally from the Dallas area in Texas, one of her favorite hobbies is cross-country skiing in the Minnesota and Wisconsin woods.

Kelsey represented The Land Institute in the Summer 2023 Nonprofit and Public Interest Fellowship.