Dr. Furman is an Assistant Research Scientist and environmental anthropologist.

She began her UGA career working with the Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC) on multi-disciplinary projects with the aim of fostering stakeholder adaptive capacity by assessing the relevance, accessibility, and usefulness of climate-based decision support tools and information through sustained community engagement. Dr. Furman conducted research with key stakeholder groups including, extension agents and row-crop producers as part of a USDA NIFA grant. She also spearheaded research and outreach funded by RMA and NOAA SARP with organic and African American producers.

Currently, Dr. Furman is principal director of a USDA SARE funded project that investigates producer experiences with food hubs in Georgia. Research examines whether and how different food hub models contribute to the expansion of sustainable food systems, rural development and farmers’ quality of life. Dr. Furman uses ethnographic methodologies that combine qualitative and quantitative research methods and focuses on the lived experience of people on the ground, including attitudes, beliefs, practices and relationships, through a mixture of semi-structured, open-ended interviews and immersive participant observation.

Dr. Furman has published in Climatic Change, Agriculture and Human Values, Climate Risk Management, Journal of Extension, General Anthropology, Practicing Anthropology, among others.