Ohio State’s Environmental Policy Initiative (EPI), which is directed by Professor Brent Sohngen, offers a yearly summer research grant for OSU graduate students who are preparing doctoral dissertation proposals for work in environmental policy. Recipients receive an award of $4,000, which is to be used during the summer semester during which the award is granted. Elizabeth Gardiner from the Department of Anthropology was one of three outstanding Ohio State doctoral students to receive this year's award.

Elizabeth Gardiner, who is advised by Dr. Mark Moritz, studies cultural anthropology at Ohio State. She focuses on the impacts of large-scale land acquisitions for commercial commodity production in West Africa with the goal of looking at livelihood sustainability from the household, community, and regional levels.

Gardiner will use the EPI grant to study recent land acquisition impacts on livelihoods in Burkina Faso. In particular, she plans to examine the impact that land acquisitions by local companies, international corporations and foreign entities have had on food security and livelihood sustainability in the country. With her research, she aims to advance the development of theoretical models that account for the long-term impacts of environmental policies and changes in land governance.

Gardiner earned an undergraduate degree in zoology from Ohio State. She earned her M.A. from the School for International Training Graduate Institute in International Service, Leadership and Management. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali and has field experience in Kenya.