Selena Ahmed is the Global Director of the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) at the American Heart Association and an Associate Professor of Sustainable Food Systems at Montana State University. Since 2003, Selena has engaged with diverse communities and stakeholders to examine the dynamics of food environments and links to ecosystems and diets. Her long-term study systems are diversified tea agroforestry in Indigenous communities in China’s Yunnan Province and sustainable community-based sustainable diet interventions on the Flathead Nation of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana. The ultimate goal of her work is to provide evidence for informing solutions and innovations to transform food systems to better support human and planetary health in ways that are equitable and culturally responsive.
Selena has served as a consultant for various food and nutrition projects, including to USAID’s Advancing Nutrition on market food environments. She brings a transdisciplinary perspective to evaluating food systems, drawing from postdoctoral training in chemical ecology and human nutrition, a PhD in biology with a focus on plant sciences and phytochemistry, a MSc in ethnobotany, a BA in economics, and experience living in multiple countries. You can contact me at Selena.Ahmed@heart.org.