Dr. Nikki Byrne-Hoffman grew up on a small acreage homestead in Braxton County, West Virginia. As a first generation college student, she graduated from West Virginia University with her B.A. in Biochemistry and went on to pursue a Doctorate of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences where she studied drug abuse, diabetes, and immune system dysfunction in various cancers. In 2018, she and Reverend Zachary Morton began the First Presbyterian Church Food Donation Garden, an urban agriculture food sovereignty project in Downtown Morgantown. In 2020, she began a similar food sovereignty project with Rev. Morton and her Department of Biology colleague Dr. Katrina Stewart on the WVU Campus. Over the next couple of years the WVU Campus Food Garden grew exponentially as an intercollegiate and community partnered agriculture and food donation program, with over 300 volunteers, 6 seasonal interns, and three garden locations: the FPC Donation Garden, Westover Urban Farm, and Evansdale Garden. The USDA designated the project as a USDA People's Garden and in 2022, Dr. Byrne-Hoffman became a Service Assistant Professor in the WVU Division of Plant and Soil Sciences where she led coursework in food system development and urban and peri-urban agricultural production. Dr. Byrne-Hoffman is working to solidify commitment of University and community leadership to the Urban Farm through funds and dedicated staffing and to expand this and other urban and peri-urban agriculture spaces in North Central West Virginia and beyond. She also now leads the agricultural and food system development of the veteran support nonprofit, Operation Welcome Home, as the Director of Agricultural Programs and leader of the WVU Extension and community-partnered Veterans Agricultural Training (VAT) program.