Dr. Vernon is a cultural and medical anthropologist. She received her Ph.D. from UCLA and taught anthropology for over 14 years at UCLA and at Elon University. Dr. Vernon has been a vegetarian for nearly 30 years and has always tried to bring the problems of animal agriculture into the classroom. In 2019 she decided to focus her undergraduate class projects on cellular agriculture because she believes that climate change education is critically important for all students to learn about no matter what their college major is. Working with students on a cultured meat project has opened her eyes to not only the need for education on the subject but more importantly, the need to inspire and motivate students to become active participants in addressing climate change through academic projects and coursework. In 2020, she decided to leave her academic position at Elon to focus on qualitative research and exploring cultural perspectives on cellular agriculture. She currently works at UCLA where she is developing the first educational program for cellular agriculture. 

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You can reach Dr. Vernon at followthefuture2020@gmail.com