Dr. Meredith Adkins, Assistant Research Professor at the Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research (I³R), is transforming approaches to enhance socioeconomic well-being, food systems innovation, and global entrepreneurship in Arkansas.
“Dr. Adkins impressed me with her extensive collaborations—from campus to corporate—when we first met,” says Dr. Ranu Jung, founding executive director of I³R. “Her expertise in policy and community development guides our work at the intersection of health and food technology, ensuring we better serve unmet needs and that we have our eye towards not just technology development, but also deployment.”
She joined the Institute in January 2023 with experience working across multiple sectors, including the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria; an international foundation operating across Africa; a graduate student-led social and environmental consulting group she co-founded called the People, Planet, and Profit Project (P4); and several director roles within University of Arkansas—where she also earned her Ph.D. in Public Policy while working full time.
As a faculty member, her passion for social and health equity and environmental impact takes her across the South, where she serves as a mentor to students in the Delta and collaborates with Arkansas’ academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, farmers and mission-driven distributors, and Indigenous communities. She is currently the lead investigator for Cherokee Nation on a poverty alleviation program designed to improve psychosocial and economic well-being for low-income pregnant Cherokee women. In the Central Arkansas Delta, she partners with co-investigators Dr. Marilyn Bailey and Dr. Kimberly Haynie of University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on a VentureWell-funded initiative to develop food and nutrition entrepreneurship-focused curricula, equipping historically under-resourced communities with entrepreneurial tools.
Within Dr. Adkins’ first year at the Institute, she secured two grants totaling almost $6 million from the National Science Foundation as principal investigator for Cultivate IQ, an AI-powered data insights platform that empowers small farms and strengthens regional food systems. Since then, the Celebrate Arkansas “One to Watch” recipient has received several other recognitions: an Ecosystem Futures Fellowship from VentureWell with UAPB collaborator Dr. Kimberly Haynie, the William Miller Public Policy Distinguished Dissertation Award from the University of Arkansas, an appointment to co-lead study abroad programs focused on sustainability with the Sam M. Walton College of Business, and speaking engagements across the country including the Black Commerce Conference: The Future of Entrepreneurship, led by the Howard University & PNC National Center for Entrepreneurship.
“Through partnerships and projects focused on convergence, we create scalable solutions for our society’s challenges,” Dr. Adkins explained. “This is the basis for my work. It is vital to listen to community needs and existing assets to accomplish that.”
Dr. Adkins’ focus on societal impact is rooted in her childhood. She grew up on the outskirts of town in South Fayetteville and attended the only majority minority elementary school in the district. From a young age, she became keenly aware of the privileges in her upbringing while childhood friends experienced many roadblocks to success. These experiences are the foundation of her research interest in community reinvestment, policy structures, and systems change. “I strive to address community needs—from local farmers to community-embedded organizations—we can enhance education, strengthen food systems, and drive economic growth in the state.”
For Dr. Adkins, her research is a means to empower people—especially those often excluded from policy and economic initiatives—and to create lasting impact in the state she proudly calls home.