Erin Lentz

Erin Lentz is an assistant professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. She teaches on research and empirical methods, development policy, and social policy. Her research explores food security; gender, nutrition, and agriculture linkages; and U.S. food aid and food assistance policies. Lentz is currently pursuing three research agendas. With her collaborators, she is developing the Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition Index. She studies U.S. and international food aid and food assistance policies. Also, she researches innovative measures to combat food insecurity in southern Africa. She received a Fulbright fellowship to Bangladesh to research the secondary effects of food aid in local communities. She has worked or consulted with CARE, the United Nations World Food Program and numerous other international NGOs on markets, food security and food assistance programs. Lentz is a member of the City of Austin/Travis County Food Policy Board. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology, an M.S. in Applied Economics and Management, and a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University.