Matthew Mars, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor (Agricultural Leadership and Innovation) and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Agricultural Education in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. A heavy focus of Matt’s current research agenda are the entrepreneurial strategies for developing and scaling the production aspects of local food systems, which include ongoing studies of the Southern Arizona and Albuquerque/Santa Fe local food systems. His research on this topic has been published in journals that include Agriculture and Human Values, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, and Rural Sociology.