Lori Hoagland is a professor and soil microbial ecologist in the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University. The primary goal of her research program is to improve the productivity, quality and safety of local food systems by promoting beneficial plant-soil-microbial relationships. Most of her work is focused within vegetable cropping systems, especially tomato and carrot, and key topic areas include improving the efficacy of biocontrol of pathogens and reducing the uptake of toxic heavy metals. She is currently teaching a course focused on Urban Agriculture, and she is the Co-Director of a large research partnership between faculty and Purdue University and the University of San Augustin in Peru focusing on addressing issues facing the food-energy-water-environmental nexus in southern Peru.