Dr. Rachel Mason is a broadly-trained scientist with expertise in agriculture, data science, and systems thinking. Following a PhD in Astronomy and several years as an astronomer at some of the world’s leading observatories, she found herself increasingly preoccupied with problems on our own planet. She changed fields via an MS in Plant & Soil Science, focusing on sustainable agriculture and the food system. Since then, Dr Mason has published research into the environmental impacts of animal agriculture; changes in the global nitrogen cycle; using machine learning to interpret remote sensing images; and how the field of agroecology has changed over time. Dr Mason currently works as an independent researcher, specializing in complex, discipline-spanning problems related to food, agriculture, and animals.