Michele Ver Ploeg

Shelly Ver Ploeg is a senior fellow at the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy. She recently retired from the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she served as chief of the Food Assistance Branch, where she was responsible for directing the agency’s research and data priorities to support USDA’s mission to ensure all American’s have access to enough healthy foods and to monitor and evaluate USDA’s significant investments in food and nutrition programs. Her research focuses on access to healthy and affordable foods, food assistance program participation and diet and health outcomes, and the measurement of poverty. She received an MS and PhD in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University and a BA in economics from Central College.