Global Impact
Our Mission
Facilitating, expanding and supporting opportunities for UW-CALS to engage with the world, and the world to engage with UW-CALS.
Our Vision
A world fed and supported by a thriving agro-ecological system.
What We Do
Establish partnerships
Identify funding opportunities
Develop grants and programs
Host visitors and scholars
Globalize Wisconsin agriculture
Recognize global contributions to science
For more information on what CALS Global does, view our Annual Reports.
Meet Our Team
Sundaram Gunasekaran, Director
Guna is also a professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. He received his undergraduate degree in agricultural engineering from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in India; master’s degree in food process engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand; and PhD from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are in enhancing food quality and safety. He has widely published in this area with over 200 peer-reviewed publications and over 10 patented or patent-pending inventions. He has received various honors and awards, including Fulbright Fellowship and U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Jennifer Kushner, Assistant Director
For the past 25 years, Jennifer has led and evaluated US-based and global initiatives in agriculture, health, environment, energy and community development. She specializes in systems approaches to complex issues, with focused work in water. She has worked in Africa, Central and South America, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean.
Kushner holds doctorate and master’s degrees in adult education, and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural sciences. She has worked in the public and private sectors, started and led several non-profits, served as an elected official, runs her own consulting business, and is an intrepid adventurer.
Julia Frangul, Executive Assistant
Julia is a recent graduate of UW-Madison where she received her B.S. in Zoology, Conservation Biology, and Spanish. Her research focus includes wildlife conservation, sustainable development, primatology, and global initiatives in conservation. She previously lived and worked in Madrid, Spain as an English teaching assistant. She also works for a conservation nonprofit, The Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation.