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** This faculty is not currently taking new PhD students **

Education

• BES(Hn), Environmental Studies, York University
  
• MSc, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Toronto
  
• PhD, Urban Planning, University of Toronto
• MCIP, (Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners) and RPP (Registered Professional Planner)

Biography

Dr. Tammara Soma holds a Ph.D. in Planning (2018) from the University of Toronto and is the Research Director and Co-Founder of the .  She is an Associate Professor at the School of Resource and Environmental Management at 91��ܽ where she conducts research on issues pertaining to food system planning, Indigenous food sovereignty, food loss and waste, food systems resiliency and the circular  food economy.  Prior to SFU, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, and the Food Equity Coordinator at New College (University of Toronto). Her dissertation investigated the factors that influence urban household food consumption and food wasting practices in Indonesia, and the ways in which food systems consideration can improve urban planning decision-making. She has published her work in various planning and environmental journals such as the Journal of American Planning Association, Journal of Planning and Education Research, International Planning Studies, Local Environment, Recycling Conservation and Resources, Journal of Agriculture, Food System and Community Development, Agriculture and Human Values and more. She is a co-editor with C. Reynolds, J. Lazell, and C. Spring of the Routledge Handbook of Food Waste. Beyond academic publications, she has also written for Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, Policy Options, The Conversation, and is frequently interviewed by media such as the BBC, Global News, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, CBC, The Guardian and more.  During her PhD, she was selected as a 2014 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Doctoral Scholar, a Joseph Armand Bombardier SSHRC CGS Doctoral Fellow, an International Development Research Centre Doctoral Award recipient, and a SSHRC Top 5 Storyteller.

Dr. Soma’s research projects are funded by the SSHRC New Frontiers, SSHRC Trans-Atlantic Platform, SSHRC Insight, the Weston Foundation Seeding Food Innovation Grant and other funders. In 2023, Dr Soma received the SFU Early Career Award in Teaching and the Emerging Community-Engaged Researcher Award from SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative, and co-wrote a documentary on CBC Gem entitled “Food is my Teacher".

On the tech side, Dr. Soma is currently serving as associate director of the Global Institute for Agritech (GIA) where she seeks to integrate equity considerations in agri-food innovations. She has contributed to the Council of Canadian Academies as an Expert Panel on a report entitled “The Next Course: The Expert Panel on Atypical Food Production Technologies for Canadian Food Security” and supports interdisciplinary work to promote responsible innovation in agritech.

Internationally, Dr. Soma was selected as a committee member of the US National Academies of Science “A Systems Approach to Reducing Consumer Food Waste” and contributed to the publication of the consensus study A National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste at the Consumer Level. She also recently served on the United Nations drafting team of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition for the 2025 report “Building Resilient Food Systems.”

In her spare time, Dr. Soma serves on the Board of WWF Canada, as a steering committee for the SFU Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies, as a mentor for underprivileged scholars, and as an advisor for various food justice related organizations. She is Registered Professional Planner with the Planning Institute of British Columbia, and  is a member of the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Opportunities:

Dr. Tammara Soma welcomes prospective graduate students interested in the following research topics. Note: when contacting Dr. Soma to enquire about opportunities, please include your GPA (scanned/ copy and pasted unofficial transcript is ok) and your CV:

1. Land-based learning and food literacy in the global North and global South (Indonesia, Tanzania)
2. Food system planning, community food assessments, community-based food research and youth food movement, seed saving
3. Social and environmental impacts of waste (food packaging waste, bioplastics, food loss and food waste, waste management in the Global North and Global South, Circular Economy, community-based composting)
4. Social implications of food and agricultural technologies: equity in agritech, data justice around food and AI, food and long-distance space missions
5. Repair economy and repair infrastructures.

Sample Publications:

Book:

Reynolds, Soma, T., C., Spring, C., and Lazell, J. Routledge Handbook on Food Waste, Routledge: Taylor Francis

Articles:

Burkholder, E., Soma, T., Winstanley, M., & McCarney, G. (2025). Towards a cohesive circular food economy: A motivation opportunity ability (MOA) approach to understanding an emerging group of practitioners in Metro Vancouver. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 14(2), 1-19.

Soma, T (as member of the writing team) of the UN High Level Panel of Expert on Food Security and Nutrition (2025). . Rome, FAO.

Varney, J., Soma, T. (2024). Achieving an Equitable Circular Food Economy in Vancouver. Local Environment, 30(2): 169-188.

Soma, T., Park, K., Shulman, T. Kuling, K., Kong, Y., Mohagheghi,A., Springle, N., Agosti, D., Niet, T., Marks, L., Tse, S., Moallem, M., Smulovit., Traviss, D., Vimos, P. (2024). Living Labs as Transformative Incrementalism? Lessons learned on the role of a university Living Lab in mobilizing Just Sustainabilities on Campus. Local Environment.

Li, B; Soma, T; Payment, R; Kumar, S; Anderson, N; Xu, F; Piensatienkul, P. (2024). A Review of Food Asset Maps in Canada. Canadian Food Studies.

Li, B., Lazell, J., Beltran, M., Kędzia., G; Roncalho Lima, L., Soma, T; Cruz, S., Francisconi Gutierrez, R; Turek., J; Raźniewska., M., Pluta-Zaremba, A; Tjahjono, B. (2024). Competing narratives inhibit a circular economy for bio-based plastic packaging: Insights from a social innovation lab study in Brazil, Canada, Poland and the UK. Business Strategy and the Environment.

Robert, N., Soma, T., Mullinix, K. (2024). Neoliberal Growth vs Food System Democratization: Narratives analysis of Canadian federal and civil society agri-food policy. Agriculture and Human Values.

Blomley, E., Soma, T., Callihoo, C., Han, R., Paez, C. (2023). . Canadian Planning and Policy. 

Soma, T., Armstrong, C., Welsh, *Jung, S., C., Atleo., Li, B., Shulman, T. (2023). Indigenizing Food System Planning for Food System Resiliency: A Citizen Science Photovoice with the Kitselas First Nation. Journal of American Planning Association.

Curtis, M., Bulkan, M., Soma, T. (2023). Sovereign at Heart: Photovoice, Food Mapping and Giving Back in Alberni-Clayoquot. Food Culture and Society.

Schwartz, E., Soma, T., Andersen, H. (2023). A Values Framework for Evaluating Alienation in Off-Earth Food Systems. Food Ethics.

Li, B., Soma, T., Springle, N., Shulman, T (2023). Reflections from implementing a virtual social innovation lab. International Journal of Qualitative Methods.

Soma, T and Hook, A. (2022). Sustainability potential of App-based Food Loss Measurement: Farmers’ Perspectives in Southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Frontiers in Sustainability.

Shaw, R and Soma, T. (2022). To the Farm, Mars and Beyond: Technologies for Growing Food in Space, the Future of Long-Duration Space Missions, and Earth Implications in English News Media Coverage. Frontiers in Communication. 7:1007567. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2022.1007567

Springle, N., Li, B., Soma, T., Shulman, T. (2022) The complex role of single-use compostable bioplastic food packaging and foodservice ware in a circular economy: Findings from a social innovation lab. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 33:646-673.

Soma, T., Li, B., Shulman, T. (2022). A Citizen Science and Photovoice Approach to Food Asset Mapping and Food System Planning. Journal of Planning Education and Research.

Mehrabi, Z…Soma, T. (2022). . One Earth, 5(7): 756-766. 

Soma, T. (2022). Unpacking the Food Recovery Hierarchy Approach to Tackling Food Waste in Canada. Canadian Food Studies/La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation. 

Hook, A., & Soma, T.  (2022). . Frontiers in Sustainability, 138.

Shaw, R & Soma, T. (2022). . Frontiers in Communication.

Springle, N., Li, B., Soma, T., Shulman, T. (2022) The complex role of single-use compostable bioplastic food packaging and foodservice ware in a circular economy: Findings from a social innovation lab.  Sustainable Production and Consumption

Soma, T., Li, B., Shulman, T. (2022). A Citizen Science and Photovoice Approach to Food Asset Mapping and Food System Planning. Journal of Planning Education and Research.

Soma, T. (2022). Unpacking the Food Recovery Hierarchy Approach to Tackling Food Waste in Canada. Canadian Food Studies/La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation.

Benyam, A. A., Soma, T., & Fraser, E. (2021). Digital agricultural technologies for food loss and waste prevention and reduction: Global trends, adoption opportunities and barriers. Journal of Cleaner Production, 323, 129099.

Soma, T., Shulman, T., Li, B. Bulkan, J., Curtis, M. (2021). Food Asset Mapping for Whom? Community Perspectives on Food Asset and Asset Mapping in the City of Vancouver, Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking.

Rajasooriar, D., Soma, T. (2022). Food access, mobility, and transportation: a survey and key informant interviews of users of non-profit food hubs in the City of Vancouver before and during the COVID-19 crisis.  22, 6. 

Soma, T., Wilson, J., Mackay, M., Cao, Y. (2021). Preserving stories, preserving food: Intergenerational and multicultural pedagogies for food preservation and food waste reduction from Pakistan, China, and Canada. , 8(4).

Soma, T., and Nuckchady, B. (2021). Communicating the Benefits and Risks of Digital Agriculture Technologies: Perspectives on the Future of Digital Agricultural Education and Training  .

Soma, T., Kozhikode, R., Krishnan, R. (2021). . Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

Soma, T., Li, B., & Maclaren, V. (2021). . Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

Soma, T. (2019). Space to waste: the influence of income and retail choice on household food consumption and food waste in Indonesia. International Planning Studies, 1-21.

Soma, T. (2018). Re-framing the food waste narrative: Analyzing Household Food Waste in Urban Indonesia, Indonesia. pp. 1-25. (Peer-reviewed)

Soma, T. (2017). Gifting, Ridding and the Everyday Mundane: The Influence of Class and Culture in the Generation of Food Waste in Indonesia. Local Environment. 22(12): 1444-  1460. (Peer-reviewed)

Soma, T. (2017). Wasted Infrastructures: Urbanization, Distancing and Food Waste in Indonesia, Built Environment. 43(3): 431-446. (Peer-reviewed)

Soma, T., & Wakefield, S. (2011). The emerging role of a food system planner: Integrating food considerations into planning. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development 2(1), pp. 53-64. (Peer-reviewed)

Lee, K and Soma, T (2016). Moving Beyond “Farm to Table” to “Farm to Dump” Emerging Research and Theoretical Frameworks on Urban Household Food Waste in the Global South. In Levkoe, C., Brady, J., and Anderson, C (Eds.). Conversations in Food Studies. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. pp. 243-266.

Soma, T. (2016). Tale of the crying rice: The role of unpaid foodwork in preventing household food waste in urban Indonesia. In Sumner, J (Ed.). Learning, Food and Sustainability. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 19-34.

Soma, T. (2015). Whose ‘everyday mundane’? The influence of class and privilege in the creation of food waste. In Escajedo San Epifanio, L., and De Renobales Scheifler (Ed). Envisioning a future without food waste and food poverty: Societal Challenges. The Hague: Wageningen Academic Publishers. pp. 233-238.

Soma, T. (2016). , Alternatives Journal. 

Soma, T. (July/August 2016). Why Planners Should Care 91��ܽ Food Waste. Ontario Planning Journal, 31(4): 15-16.

Soma, T. (2015). World Trade Organization [Encyclopedia Entry]. in Albala, K (ed). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Food Issues. Sage Publications.  

Soma, T., Bidordinova, A., & Naresh, V. (2013). A map of Toronto’s Eco-School: From food waste to food gardens. In Food: An Atlas. Guerilla Cartographers: University of California Berkeley. (Reviewed by editor)