My interest in coffee and especially shade-grown coffee began while I was working at the Smithsonian Institution in the Fall of 1996 and attended the First Sustainable Coffee Congress. I became fascinated with the world of coffee certification and ended up writing my Master's research paper on the topic. This is the paper I've posted here in Coffee Contact.

While completing the M.S. program at the University of Maryland, I joined the Biodiversity Conservation Network in Washington, DC, where I helped perform an analysis of data reported from enterprise-based conservation projects in Asia. I left BCN in the summer of 98 to travel in Peru, Panama, and Costa Rica. I visited with coffee farmers and brokers in these countries. A few of my trip reports are posted on this site.

In the fall of 98 I began research on a study of sustainable coffee labelling, commissioned by the Consumer's Choice Council. The report Sustainable Coffee at the Crossroads, which I co-authored with Paul Rice, has now been published and is available at the CCC website.

I am presently working as an environment program analyst and liaison for the USAID Global Environment Center.

I can be reached at:
generaliffer@yahoo.com.

Back to Coffee People