POTSDAM -- Clarkson University Professor of Sociology Rick Welsh has been named by Cambridge University Press to be the incoming editor-in-chief of the journal Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.

According to the Cambridge University Press web site, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (formerly American Journal of Alternative Agriculture) is a multi-disciplinary journal, which focuses on the science that underpins economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable approaches to agriculture and food production.

The journal publishes original research and review articles on the economic, ecological, and environmental impacts of agriculture; the effective use of renewable resources and biodiversity in agro-ecosystems; and the technological and sociological implications of sustainable food systems. It also contains a discussion forum, which presents lively discussions on new and provocative topics.

Welsh joined the faculty of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Clarkson in 2000. His research interests focus on economic and social change and development with emphases on agriculture and food systems, the sociology of science and technology and environmental sociology.

His research has been funded by the U.S. departments of Agriculture and Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, among others.

His local research and outreach work includes working with producers, retailers and policy-makers to increase the livestock slaughter capacity in the North Country; and, interviewing and surveying North Country farmers to measure their attitudes about, and adoption of, environmental management strategies and practices.

Welsh is also the vice president of the board of directors of Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County. In 2008, he was appointed to the St. Lawrence County Integrated Agricultural Task Force.