In October 2021, Johanna Cricenti joined CALS Global as a Grants Specialist to seek new international research and outreach opportunities and support faculty in proposal and program development.  With her broad range of experience, from owning and operating an organic vegetable farm to conducting community based research and engagement, Johanna has expertise in experiential and service learning, entrepreneurship, and project management. She has been at VT for the past decade first as a technician and graduate student in CALS with the Dining Services Vegetable Garden (Homefield Farm) and the Civic Agriculture and Food Systems Minor. She was previously the program manager of a USAID-sponsored global agricultural education systems project led by Virginia Tech with the Office of International Research Education and Development. Most recently she worked as a project coordinator at LINK+LICENSE+LAUNCH as a liaison facilitating industry partnerships.

Johanna brings a multicultural perspective to the table from a broad range of international experiences and supervisory and advisory roles with diverse groups of faculty, administrators, government representatives, immigrant workers, local-food stakeholders, and students.  In her academic and professional career she has coordinated workshops with University partners in Costa Rica and Malawi, undertaken field studies in Belize and India, volunteered in Niger, New Zealand and Australia and travelled extensively in Europe, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. Johanna is keenly interested in international cultural, academic and professional exchange and is extremely excited to join the CALS Global team! Johanna is a two time Hokie and holds master’s degrees in agricultural and life sciences and in natural resources from Virginia Tech as well as a bachelor’s degree in government from Smith College.