Profile in Courage: Gail P. Myers, PhD

Cultural anthropologist

Widely respected researcher of the Anthropology of African American Farming, Dr. Myers is the founder of Farms to Grow, Inc., and Sustainable Lands Planning & Research. She has expertise in qualitative research design, ethnography, program evaluation, and curriculum development. In addition to her work with Farms to Grow, Inc. and Sustainable Lands P&R, Dr. Myers is an adjunct assistant professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine, and program evaluator for the Nicodemus Flour Cooperative in Nicodemus, KS.
She earned a Doctorate in Anthropology from The Ohio State University, a Master’s degree in Applied Anthropology from Georgia State University and a Bachelor’s degree in English from Florida State University. Following the completion of her Doctorate at The Ohio State University, Dr. Myers began teaching at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Masters of Public Health Program, Social & Behavioral Track, where she taught, Race, Ethnicity, Politics, and Disease. Myers has taught Cultural and Physical Anthropology at The Ohio State University, Sustainable Communities: Black Farmers in the US at Denison University, and Cultural Studies at the Art Institute of San Francisco. Dr. Myers lectures frequently for the Columbia College in Chicago, IL on the ethics of social science research. Myers lectures primarily on various topics related to the Anthropology and History of African American farming. She is considered a subject matter expert on the Anthropology of African American farming.
For the last eight years, she has been researching African American farmers, producing several articles and numerous papers related to the histories and sustainable practices of African American farmers. In 2001, Dr. Myers organized the first statewide conference for African American farmers in Ohio. The conference, “Sustaining Community: Ohio’s Black Farmers at the Crossroads,” succeeded in raising the awareness throughout Ohio of the concerns of black farmers statewide and nationally. Dr. Myers’ other conference coordinator experience includes coordinating the 19th California Small Farm Conference, Ventura, CA, November 13-15, 2005.
Dr. Myers has been researching, teaching, and writing about the traditional farming knowledge and history of African American farmers. She developed a course specific to African American farmers which covers traditional farming knowledge, the archaeology of slave communities, and settlement development.
Dr. Myers has thirteen years experience in program evaluation and design. She is an approved Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) evaluator. As an evaluator and curriculum developer, she has consulted with Morehouse School of Medicine, Morehouse College, Partnership for After-School Education (PASE), Memorial to Our Lost Children, New Visions Management Group, and The National Black Women’s Health Project. She is currently the program evaluator for the Nicodemus Wheat Cooperative in Nicodemus, KS. As a research consultant she has worked with numerous organizations, including the Annie Casey Foundation, Southern Christian Leadership Foundation, Battelle Memorial Institute, Public Private Ventures, Emrich Educational Management Services, and Mo Better Foods/Familyhood Connection.
In the area of public health, she has consulted for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Fulton County Health Department, Battelle Memorial Institute, Macro International, and The OSU College of Human Ecology. From 1992-1996, she was employed as a field investigator in the Community Health & Preventive Health Department at Morehouse School of Medicine. Dr. Myers’ conducted her master’s research on the subject of adolescent health behavior and weapon possession. She is published in the public health field; her work in youth weapon possession is in print in the American Journal of Public Health.
Dr. Myers has received numerous awards and honors. In April 2001, Myers received a special commendation award from the Ohio House of Representatives for contributing to the advancement of Ohio agriculture. In 2005, she received a special recognition award from the California Small Farm Conference for Conference Coordinator direction. She is an advisory board member of the Art for a Child Safe America Foundation, in Columbus, Ohio and on the Board of Directors of Compassionate Nurses, Atlanta, GA.

In 2005, Dr. Myers, managed the first pilot farmers’ market in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco, CA.

Dr. Myers is working on a film documentary of the traditional knowledge, knowledge, and adaptations African American farmers. She currently resides in Oakland, CA.