Emelyn Rude

Sciences Po postdoctoral research programme on the environment - The Bruno Latour Fund 

My work sits at the intersection of economic, environmental, and culinary history and is broadly focused on the development of the food system in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I am particularly interested in the history of eating animals and previously studied the factors driving the growth of American chicken consumption and the impact of marine species declines on the production and consumption of food. My current research project aims to understand how species declines and extinctions events changed American eating habits more broadly, with the ultimate goal of retelling the story of the American food system through the lens of this type of environmental degradation. I received my PhD in History from the University of Cambridge in 2022, my MPhil in Economic and Social History from Cambridge in 2018, and my Bachelor's in Social Studies from Harvard University in 2012. My interest in food is not purely academic, however. Prior to going to graduate school I helped run high-end restaurants in New York, worked as a pastry cook and recipe tester, and helped to write and edit various cookbooks. These days I publish an independent magazine focused on food history called EATEN and am also a trained and certified sommelier.