Jean Buzby

Prior to this position, she was on detail at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Resource Conservation and Sustainability Division as a Senior Policy Analyst. For most of her career, she has worked at USDA’s Economic Research Service (USDA/ERS), first as an Agricultural Economist and then as the Chief of the Diet, Safety, and Health Economics Branch in the Food Economics Division. Prior to moving into management, her primary areas of work were food safety, food consumption, and food loss research. Dr. Buzby's food safety research included estimating the costs of foodborne illness, analyzing the legal incentives for firms to produce safer food, and exploring international trade and food safety issues. Her food consumption research was primarily centered on using information gleaned from the Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System. Dr. Buzby is domestically and internationally known for her estimates of food loss at the retail and consumer levels in the United States. Dr. Buzby received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Kentucky.