Selena is an ethnobotanist with research and outreach interests at the intersection of the ecological, cultural, and health aspects of food systems. The ultimate translational goal of her career is to transform food systems through evidence-based innovations that support human and planetary health. For the past 18 years, Selena has engaged with diverse communities and stakeholders to explore linkages between food environments, nutrition, and health towards informing evidence-based innovations. Selena’s long-term study system is tea agroforestry in China’s Yunnan Province where she has examined effects of agricultural practices and global change on tea biochemical composition, sensory attributes, and farmer livelihoods.

She is the Global Director of the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) at the American Heart Association. She joined the PTFI from Montana State University where she is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Food Systems, Director of the Translational Biomarkers Core, and a Principal Investigator of the Food and Health Lab. Selena has served as a consultant for various food and nutrition projects, including to USAID’s Advancing Nutrition activity on market food environments. She brings a transdisciplinary perspective to evaluating food, 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.

Selena is the Co-Founder of Shoots & Roots Bitters and co-author of two popular culture books, “Tea Horse Road: China’s Ancient Trade Road to Tibet” and “Botany at the Bar: The Art and Science of Making Bitters” that draw on her botanical adventures.