Matt hails from eastern Nebraska, where his previous work spanned the areas of community agriculture systems, plant pathology, and equitable rural development. He is now a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology studying efforts made by the USDA and regional NGOs to increase diversity in agriculture. His dissertation traces the parameters of rural community set by organizations that advocate for local governance over farming, agroecology, and food distribution. It asks whether food security can be made compatible with the notion of food sovereignty, and what kind of citizen-subjects might be cultivated in the process.