Nicole Tichenor Blackstone
Assistant Professor
Nicole Tichenor Blackstone is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating strategies to improve food system sustainability. Dr. Blackstone’s work fuses industrial ecology, nutrition, and social science methods. To date, her research has explored the environmental and social implications of diverse production systems (e.g., grass-fed beef, cultivated meat, fruits and vegetables), human diets, and regional food systems. Currently, she leads the Leading a Sustainability Transition in Nutrition Globally (LASTING) Project, which aims to produce evidence-based recommendations, methods, and metrics for integrated sustainability assessment of dietary patterns. On LASTING, she is co-leading integrated modeling of dietary sustainability outcomes. Dr. Blackstone is also a founding affiliated faculty member of the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture. She is PI on a project developing sustainable animal-free scaffolds for cultivated meat and Co-PI on a large, interdisciplinary project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, leading the project’s environmental assessment team.
Dr. Blackstone earned her Ph.D. and M.S. from the Friedman School in the Agriculture, Food, and Environment program. During her graduate training, she was the recipient of multiple fellowships, including the Switzer Environmental Leadership Fellowship. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the University of Kansas. Dr. Blackstone also has experience in food policy spanning the local to national levels, through previous positions with the Douglas County Food Policy Council (KS) and National Family Farm Coalition. She collaborates across disciplines and with stakeholders to co-create more equitable, just, and sustainable food systems.
Education
- Ph.D., 2016, Agriculture, Food, and Environment, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
- M.S., 2012, Agriculture, Food, and Environment, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
- B.A., 2009, Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Kansas
