Liza Wood
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Environmental Policy emphasis in Ecology 2023
Secondary emphasis: Computational Social Science
University of California Davis, Davis, CA
M.Sc., Organic Farming and Food Production Systems 2015
Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
M.Sc., Sustainability Science and Policy 2014
Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
B.A., Political Science | B.A., Biology 2013
Honors College at the College of Charleston, Charleston, SC
EMPLOYMENT
Postdoctoral Research Fellow 2023 – present
University of Exeter, Department of Management – Sustainable Futures
Graduate Student Researcher and Teaching Assistant 2018 – 2023
University of California Davis, Center for Environmental Policy & Behavior and DataLab
Assistant Director of First-Year Experience 2016 – 2018
College of Charleston, New Student Programs
PUBLICATIONS
PEER-REVIEW PUBLICATIONS
Scott, T., Kim, S., Wood, L. (2025) Open access, professional popularity, and agency involvement drive science referenced in U.S. EPA regulatory impact analyses from 2000 to 2022. Regulation & Governance. http://doi.org/10.1111/rego.70026
Wood, L., Vantaggiato, F.P., Scott, T.A. (2025) Tracing the path of knowledge on ‘environmental governance processes’ for theory-building. Environmental Policy and Governance. https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.2151
Wood, L., Lubell, M. (2025) Resource constellations and institutional logics shape network-building processes in the organic seed niche. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2025.100965
Wood, L., Scott, T. (2022) Transportation agencies as consumers and producers of science: The case of state, regional, and county transportation agencies in California. Transport Policy 128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2022.08.016.
Wood, L., Lubell, M., Rudnick, J., Khalsa, S.D.S., Tatge, S., Sears, M., Brown, P. (2021) Mandatory information-based policy tools facilitate California farmers’ learning about nitrogen management. Land Use Policy 114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105923.
Rudnick, J., Lubell, M., Khalsa, S.D.S., Tatge, S., Wood, L., Sears, M., Brown, P. (2021). A farm systems approach to the adoption of sustainable nitrogen management practices in California. Agriculture and Human Values 38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-021-10190-5.
CONFERENCE PAPERS
Jenney, P., Wood, L., Dawson, J., Hubbard, K. When the Patent Bargain Fails: An examination of patents on plant varieties and the consequences for follow-on innovation. Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting (2025).
Wood, L. How public and private innovations shape environmental sustainability: Evidence from a century of plant patents. Research Policy 8th Online Conference for Early Career Researchers (2024).
Wood, L., Pascucci, S. Entanglements of ecological systems and organizational transformation in the organic seed niche. European Group for Organizational Studies (2024).
Wood, L., Pascucci, S. Mapping the research landscape of collaborative processes in sustainable business model innovation. King’s College London Centre for Sustainable Business Short Paper Workshop: Unlocking pathways for a sustainable future (2024)
Wood, L., Struthers, C., Scott, T.A., Kim, S. Science politics: How political context shapes public agencies’ use of science in environmental policymaking. Environmental Politics and Governance Conference (2023).
REPORTS
Wood, L., Pascucci, S., Foppe, A., Ashouri, S., Materia, V., Alerasoul, A. (2024). How to design sustainable business models: A research integrated protocol. Deliverable 5.1 for InBestSoil: Monetary valuation of soil ecosystem services and creation of initiatives to invest in soil health.
Wood, L. (2022). Assessing the Resilience of the Organic Seed System: A Network Perspective. Proceedings of the 11th Organic Seed Growers Conference.
Hubbard, K., Zystro, J., & Wood, L. (2022). State of Organic Seed. Port Townsend, Washington. | Data explorer: https://organicseed.shinyapps.io/SOSData/
Wood, L., Lubell, M. (2022). Vina Subbasin Farmer Survey Report | Data explorer: https://liza-wood.shinyapps.io/Vina-interactive-survey/
PRESENTATIONS
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting | Utah USA 2025
European Forum for Studies of Policies for Research and Innovation | Germany 2025
Research Policy 8th Online Conference for Early Career Researchers | virtual 2024
European Group for Organizational Studies | Italy 2024
Environmental Politics and Governance Conference | United Kingdom, Canada 2023, 2024
King’s College London Centre for Sustainable Business Short Paper Workshop | United Kingdom 2024
International Sustainability Transitions Conference | virtual, Netherlands 2022, 2023
Conference of Policy Process Research | Colorado USA 2023
Duck Family Workshop on Environmental Politics and Governance | Washington USA 2022
Atlanta Academy on Science and Innovation Policy | Georgia USA 2022
American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting | virtual 2020
International Association for the Study of the Commons | Peru 2019
TALKS, WORKSHOPS, AND DISCUSSANT ROLES
Politecnico di Bari, Management Group April 2025
Invited talk | Who innovates for climate adaptation? Evidence from plant variety development
London Environment and Public Policy Workshop September 2024
Invited discussant | Panel: Palace politics in climate and environmental governance
King’s College London, Environment and Public Policy Research Group Seminar January 2024
Seminar talk | Tracing the path of knowledge on ‘environmental governance processes’ for theory-building
University of California Davis, Data Visualization ECL 290 October 2023
Invited lecture | Interactive data with Shiny flexdashboard
University of California Davis, Mexican Graduate Student Association May 2023
Invited workshop | Introduction to the Tidyverse & Making websites with Rmd & GitHub
University of California Davis, DataLab Micro-credential Program May 2023
Invited workshop | Network visualization
Newcastle University, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences Seminar Series June 2022
Invited talk | Supporting innovation for sustainable agriculture
Mars-Wrigley Cacao Research and Development Seminar Series December 2021
Invited talk | Mapping the seed innovation system
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
DATA SCIENCE
Instructor | Contracted by California State Water Board
R for Water Resources Data Science Spring 2023, 2024 & 2025
Teaching Assistant | UC Davis – UC Davis DataLab
IST 8x: Adventures in Data Science Winter & Spring 2022 & 2023
Instructor | UC Davis – Graduate Group in Ecology
ECL 298: R Data Analysis for Visualization in Science Fall 2020, 2021 & 2022
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE
Teaching Assistant | UC Davis – Departments of Plant Sciences and Environmental Science and Policy
PLS 49: Organic Crop Production Practicum Fall 2019, Spring 2020
ESP 10: Current Issues in the Environment Winter 2019
Instructor | UC Davis – Graduate Group Ecology
ECL 290: Science Fiction and Near Futures of Ecology Spring 2020
Instructor | College of Charleston – Department of Environmental and Sustainability Science
FYET 177: Sustainable Food in the Foothills of the Andes Spring 2017, 2018 & 2019
FYSE 142: Farm to Fork: The Sustainable Food Movement in Charleston Spring 2018
GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS
RESEARCH
University of Exeter Department of Management Seed Funding (£1,000) 2024 – 2025
USDA Western Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Graduate Grant ($24,997) 2020 – 2022
UC Davis Henry A. Jastro Student Research Fellowship ($12,450) 2019 – 2023
Fulbright Netherlands Research Award, Semi-finalist 2022
UC Davis Angela and Theodore Foin Graduate Fellowship ($900) 2020 – 2021
Ford Foundation Fellowship Program, Honorable Mention 2020
Davis Muir Institute Graduate Fellowship ($5,000) 2019 – 2020
College of Charleston Political Science Department, 1st place for Best Paper Award 2013
ASIANetwork/Freeman-Asia Foundation Student-Faculty Fellowship to Thailand ($6,000) 2012
College of Charleston Summer Undergraduate Research with Faculty Grant ($5,000) 2011
EDUCATION
UC Davis Graduate Group in Ecology Fellowship 2018 – 2020
Rotary Foundation Global Grant Scholarship to Newcastle, United Kingdom 2014 – 2015
Fulbright Maastricht University Award to Maastricht, The Netherlands 2013 – 2014
College of Charleston Bishop Robert Smith Award 2013
College of Charleston Biology Outstanding Student in the Major Award 2013
College of Charleston Political Science Outstanding Student in the Major Award 2013
College of Charleston Maggie T. Pennington Scholarship 2012-2013
College of Charleston Alexandria Dengate Scholarship 2011-2012
SERVICE
Program Committee Member | Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2025
Davis R Users Group Coordinator | UC Davis 2021 – 2023
Ecology Graduate Group Graduate Student Mentor | UC Davis 2019 – 2022
Data Carpentries Instructor | The Carpentries 2021 – 2022
Admissions Committee Application Reviewer | UC Davis 2019 – 2021
Sustainability Literacy Writing Committee Member | College of Charleston 2017 – 2018
Faculty for Sustainable Living Workshop Coordinator | College of Charleston 2016 – 2018
Internal Fellowship Interview Panelist | College of Charleston 2016 – 2017
Reviewer | Policy Studies Journal, Society & Natural Resources, Environmental Innovations and Societal Transitions, Frontiers in Agronomy, European Management Review