Andy Lyons is Program Coordinator at the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Informatics and GIS Statewide Program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Duke University, a MS in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation from the University of Florida, and a PhD in Environmental Science Policy and Management from UC Berkeley. His research specialities include analysis of wildlife movement, population modeling, the political economy of conservation and development projects, and land use land cover change. Prior to joining UC ANR, he taught at Stanford University teaching courses in cryptography, sustainability, and African Studies; conducted program evaluations for the Food and Agriculture Organization and USAID, and taught high school science as a Peace Corps Volunteer in west Africa. As Program Coordinator, he provides general programmatic oversight and leads projects in GIS, drone mapping, and climate data science.

“I’m excited to be part of the Farm to School Evaluation team. I’m excited to be part of an interdisciplinary evaluation team and apply evaluation methods to better understand the impact of a complex and ambitious policy initiative that stands to make a major impact on the children of California.”

Dr. Lyons will perform overall design and support for IGIS data standards and data management to support adaptation and application of carbon models for farming practice, development of a research data portal,  mobile data collection tools, and other technical support services.