Dr. Greg Barron-Gafford

Director of Food, Water, Energy Research

Greg is a Biogeographer, which means his science sits at that exciting nexus of understanding how external forces (like environmental and human factors) and internal characteristics (like leaf biochemistry) determine where species can live and thrive. For the last 8 years, the Barron-Gafford research group has been building the field of 'agrivoltaics' -the concept of co-locating agriculture and photovoltaics (renewable energy from solar panels). We began this work in southern Arizona to study the benefits across the food-energy-water nexus, and over the years have developed a national and international program connecting with researchers in Colorado and Oregon (USA), and in Africa and the Middle East. Helping develop science-based solutions to help people adapt to the increasing pressures that come from a changing climate is a personal and professional goal.