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Phoebe Stephens is an interdisciplinary social scientist whose research explores how financial systems, governance, and public policy shape the future of food. She’s especially interested in how capital — from community investment funds to impact investing and venture capital — can act as leverage points for building more sustainable, equitable, and resilient food systems.

Phoebe joined Â鶹´«Ã½ in 2022 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Agriculture before transitioning to the School for Resource and Environmental Studies (SRES) in 2025. She brings experience working across academic and policy spaces, including at Oxfam International and Oxfam Canada. Her research has been supported by multiple SSHRC grants and she is a 2018 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar.

In Fall 2025, she is teaching SUST 2000: Local Governance, Civic Engagement, and Sustainability, where students explore how power, participation, and institutions shape environmental outcomes in their own communities.

Phoebe’s Masters in Global Governance and PhD in Social and Ecological Sustainability from the University of Waterloo was supervised by Dr. Jennifer Clapp, and included a case study on Nova Scotia’s FarmWorks Investment Co-op. She continues to collaborate with local partners across the province, especially through her work on farmers’ market pricing, food hub infrastructure, and sustainable agriculture finance.

Born in Singapore and having lived in multiple cities across Asia and Canada including Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Montreal, Toronto, Waterloo and Ottawa, Phoebe now calls Nova Scotia home. She lives in K'jipuktuk/Halifax with her collie-retriever mix, Willow, who’s always up for exploring beaches and trails.