Are you passionate about transforming food systems to be healthier, fairer, and more sustainable? 🍎🥦 Looking to move to the next stage of your academic career by getting your doctorate in 2026?
We’re seeking a motivated PhD candidate to join our scholarship-funded project:
“Cultivating Health, Equity and Sustainability through Localised Fresh Produce Distribution.”
Rural Victorians face major challenges when it comes to accessing affordable, high-quality fruit and vegetables. Produce often travels huge distances - reducing freshness, driving up costs, and increasing waste and emissions - before returning to the very communities where it was grown.
This PhD project, supervised by myself, Colin Bell, and Erica Reeve, will take a systems lens to rethink how fresh produce moves from farms to people.
You’ll explore innovative approaches such as community gardens and vegetable box schemes, working closely with communities to uncover barriers, opportunities, and strengths in alternative distribution models.
What makes this opportunity exciting?
🍓 Tackle real-world problems in health, equity, and sustainability
🍋 Contribute to re-designing food supply chains for better planetary and public health
🫐 Collaborate with passionate communities and researchers leading the way in food systems change
If you’re driven by impact, curious about complex systems, and eager to create solutions for healthier and more sustainable futures, this could be the PhD for you!
👉 Find out more by emailing me at c.russell@deakin.edu.au
