Meet Karli Moore
As a Knight-Hennessy scholar, Karli Moore explores her passion for supporting Indigenous communities and pursuing ways of growing food sustainably in the context of a looming climate crisis.
How did you become interested in Native agriculture?
My interests come from my experience being Lumbee and growing up on a family farm in my Tribal territory of southeast North Carolina. I was raised in a strong, tight-knit community that struggled with the legacies of structural discrimination and generational poverty. Later, as I became aware of climate change and the ecological challenges around us, I came to believe that this is the number-one threat for agriculture and food systems. Indigenous people and communities are on the frontlines of this crisis. We need to adapt rapidly, and it’s critical that Tribal nations are able to exercise self-determination over their lands in ways that will benefit their people. I wanted to put my time and talents to work on this challenge.
What was your experience like growing up on a farm?
When you grow up on a farm, you can't escape it. But I was not the typical farm kid who loved tractors and feeding the animals, so I spent my time reading and playing with my siblings. Later, as a teenager, I got involved in the business side and would help my father with office work like emails, spreadsheets, and our website.
As a child, I found farm life to be very normal. I thought everybody grew up in a rural community that goes back many generations. When I got to college, I quickly discovered my experience was not the norm. I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been living outside my Tribal community. I definitely did not think I was going to be in agriculture. That idea only came halfway through my college experience.
How did you go from being uninterested in farm life to studying agricultural business management?
I started my undergrad studies as a pre-med chemistry major at NC State University. And I really loved chemistry! I thought it was the best subject ever, until we got to the upper-level labs and I realized I wanted more interaction with people than that path offered.
Around that time, my younger brother was majoring in agriculture at the same school. We shared an apartment, and I would hear him talking about his courses in agriculture and economics. I had decided I didn’t want to be a doctor, and I didn’t want to be a chemist, but agriculture started to sound more interesting. I thought, “It's local, but it's also global and it impacts everybody because everybody eats.” Then I started to see how agriculture brings together science, economics, and policy.
When an opportunity came up to attend a summer camp focused on encouraging Native American students to get into agriculture, I signed up. And when I got back to campus in the fall, I decided to add a second major, agricultural business management. I haven't looked back since.
You had a formative work experience before continuing your studies. How did that shape your goals and education plan?
I planned to go to graduate school right after completing my undergraduate studies, but I attended a career fair and unexpectedly accepted a position to work at BASF, one of the world's largest agrochemical companies. It was an opportunity to rotate through the business and learn how each part works.
My first assignment was a new project around sustainability and biodiversity, and that got me thinking about the environmental footprint of agriculture. In this role, I got to learn about the important issue of monarch butterfly conservation and, perhaps more importantly, I experienced what it’s like to work on a side project that was not central to the business. While my colleagues were under pressure to meet sales targets, I had freedom to chart my own path. I saw that this is where innovation comes from — it’s not about doing what's always been done, but doing something new.
Why did you decide to go back to school one year later?
Graduate school took me deeper into studying agriculture and the environment. I went to the University of Arkansas for a master’s degree in agricultural economics, where I worked with the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative and wrote my thesis on carbon sequestration from afforestation of marginal farmland in the Arkansas Delta.
After that, I started work at the Native American Agriculture Fund, which was created to provide grant funding to support Native agricultural systems. During my time there, we made more than 100 grants representing nearly $40 million in funding. That's when I decided to think about a PhD.
What drew you to Stanford?
I’m an avid collector of information, and I found out about Knight-Hennessy Scholars as an undergraduate student. I liked the idea of a leadership development program. I was in a similar program for undergraduate students at NC State, so I kept KHS in mind as an idea for the future.
During the pandemic, it struck me that agricultural and food systems were going to change rapidly, and I wanted to be part of that. I thought it would be important to gain skills as a researcher and to know more about transforming systems with more than just a business objective in mind. I started thinking: How can we move to more sustainable practices but still maintain our ability to feed a growing world? Stanford felt like a place to explore that.
My advisers include an agricultural ecologist and data scientist on one side and a tribal law and policy scholar on the other. I bring together questions about what's happening on the ground in the environment, what's happening with macroscale policies, and what’s happening with the relationship between the federal government and U.S. tribes. Food and agriculture is an increasing area of focus at Stanford with the opening of the new Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
What’s a typical day like for you at Stanford?
This quarter, I'm taking a class in geographic information systems and learning how to do more mapping. I'm also working on a collaboration grant with a law student who's interested in environmental policy. We are exploring the feasibility of agrivoltaics, which is the dual use of land for solar panels and crops or animals, on Tribal lands. I'm also involved in the Native American Cultural Center community and working to improve the services and infrastructure that Stanford provides for Indigenous graduate students.
It has been surreal coming to Silicon Valley from a rural area in the East. I feel like I’m peeking behind the curtain into this whole other world. I'm relishing the opportunity to get to know the agricultural scene in California and to meet the urban Native communities from Oakland to San Francisco to San Jose.
I’m constantly reminded that a lot of the opportunities in life are tied to wealth and resources. I want other places, especially my homeland and other Native communities, to be able to have these same opportunities.
How has Knight-Hennessy Scholars influenced your experience at Stanford so far?
Graduate school can be a siloing experience because you get deep into your field of study and your circle gets tight. Knight-Hennessy Scholars surrounds you with people who are going deep into different subjects. Being a part of this community allows me to meet people who are just as committed and passionate about an issue as I am. It also gives me hope to know there are people out there trying to make a difference in so many different areas. We lend each other support, and we gain exposure to new ideas through programs like Curiosity Corner and the McMurtry Leadership Lectures.
Knight-Hennessy Scholars also provides a way for me to help build awareness of Indigenous issues across many domains. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share this message across Knight-Hennessy Scholars. I think every scholar has something unique to bring to the community, and it makes us all better people.
What advice would you give to someone considering applying to Knight-Hennessy Scholars?
To others who have a background similar to mine, I would say, “Don’t count yourself out. Take a chance.” I did not think I would be here. When I have doubts about how I’m going to finish, being part of Knight-Hennessy Scholars gives me assurance that it will work out because the Knight-Hennessy community believes in me. Sometimes what you need in graduate school is a cheerleader.