Elizabeth Ransom

Professor of International Affairs Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute

Ph.D., Michigan State University
M.A., Michigan State University
B.A., Western Carolina University
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Elizabeth Ransom is Professor of International Affairs at Penn State University and a Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute. A sociologist by training (Ph.D., Michigan State University), her research focuses on agriculture, food systems, globalization, and international development, with particular attention to processes of social and technological change.

Her work examines agri-food systems in Southern and Eastern Africa, the United States, and Australia, especially in relation to livestock and dairy production. Across these contexts, she has studied the social and ethical implications of agricultural science and technology, including genetically engineered crops and antimicrobial resistance; gender and women's empowerment; and the resilience of food systems in the face of disasters and other disruptions.

Ransom teaches graduate courses on international agriculture and food systems, development and the ethics of development assistance, and globalization.

She serves as Co-Editor of Rural Sociology and Associate Editor of Agriculture and Human Values. Her research has been supported by the J. William Fulbright Program and the National Science Foundation, and she served as Co-Principal Investigator on a large interdisciplinary project examining food system resilience in the context of catastrophic risk, funded by Open Philanthropy. Her scholarship has appeared in leading interdisciplinary journals, including Sustainability Science, Journal of Rural Studies, Agriculture and Human Values, and Science, Technology, & Human Values.

Books

B. Winders and Elizabeth Ransom, eds., Global Meat: Social and Environmental Consequences of the Expanding Meat Industry (Cambridge: MIT Press), 2019. https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/global-meat

C. Baily, L. Jensen, and E. Ransom, eds., Rural America in a Globalizing World: Problems and Prospects for the 2010s (Morgantown: West Virginia University Press), 2014. https://wvupressonline.com/node/538

Select Articles

Messner, R., Richards, C., Ransom, E., Mitchell, E. and Rowlings, D. 2025 Holistic grazing management as a scalable niche? A systems perspective on transitions to increased sustainability in beef cattle grazing. Sustain Sci (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-025-01725-4

Ransom, E., S. Bierly, E. Ganda. 2024. Identifying Knowledge Gaps Surrounding Antimicrobial Resistance: An Exploratory Study of Antimicrobial Resistant Genes on Pennsylvania Dairy Farms. Journal of Rural Studies 111(2024): 103405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103405

Ransom, E. 2024. Disaster response and sustainable transitions in agrifood systems. Agriculture and Human Values. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-024-10625-9

Ransom, E., Grady, C., Trepanier, L., & Bain, C. 2023. Situated Ethics in Development: STS Insights for a Pragmatic Approach to Development Policy and Practice. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 48(1), 190-211. https://doi.org/10.1177/01622439211052685

DuPuis, M. E. Ransom, M. Worosz. 2022. “Food Supply Chain Shocks and the Pivot Toward Local: Lessons from the Global Pandemic.” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems Agroecology and Ecosystem Services. 6: 836574. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.836574

Ransom, E. 2021. “Impossible solutions: Competing values in marketing alternative proteins for sustainable food systems.” Journal of Rural Studies 86: 694-701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.06.017

Bain, C., E. Ransom, I. Halimatusa'diyah.** 2020. “Dairy Livestock Interventions for Food Security in Uganda: What are the implications for Women’s Empowerment?” Rural Sociology 85(4): 991-1020. https://doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12332

Bain, C. E. Ransom, and I. Halimatusa'diyah.** 2018. “‘Weak Winners’ of Women’s Empowerment: The Gendered Effects of Dairy Livestock Assets on Time Poverty in Uganda” Journal of Rural Studies 61:100-109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2018.03.004

Ransom, E., C. Bain, H. Bal*, N. Shannon.* 2017. “Cattle as Technological Interventions: The Gender Effects of Water Demand in Dairy Production in Uganda.” FACETS 2(2): 715-732. https://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/10.1139/facets-2017-0031

Ransom, E., C. Bain, and I. Halimatusa'diyah.** 2017. “Livestock-Livelihood Linkages in Uganda: The Benefits for Women and Rural Households?” Journal of Rural Social Sciences. 32(2): 37-68. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/soc_las_pubs/26/

Ransom, E. and W. Wright. 2013. “Constructing Culinary Knowledge: Food and Agricultural Change in Community Cookbooks.” Food, Culture & Society, 16 (4): 669-689. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175174413X13758634981895

Ransom, E. 2011. “Botswana’s Beef Global Commodity Chain: Explaining the Resistance to Change.” Journal of Rural Studies 27 (4): 431-439. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0743016711000520

Ransom, E. and C. Bain. 2011. “Gendering Agricultural Aid: An Analysis of Whether International Development Assistance Targets Women and Gender.” Gender and Society 25(1): 48-74. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0891243210392571

Students visit Costa Rica to study agriculture, agroforestry, and development

Simulation of a global catastrophe is part of learning in a Penn State class

International Affairs student makes impact in Colombia and across the globe

School of International Affairs celebrates Class of 2023

Interim Director Elizabeth Ransom & other Penn State faculty visit Belize to forge collaborations

SIA student takes nontraditional path to grad school

SIA takes Career Exposure Trip to New York City

School of International Affairs takes D.C. career exposure trip

School of International Affairs professor receives Sloan Foundation grant

School of International Affairs Class of 2024 attends orientation

Penn State uses interdisciplinary approach to aid fishermen

School of International Affairs celebrates Class of 2022