Ben Zehr is pursuing a Master’s in International Policy at Stanford. Ben comes to his graduate studies after four years running Kisano, a vertical farming technology company in India. Growing up, Ben was surrounded by conversations about food, livelihoods, and impact driven technology – topics that translated to a personal interest in sustainable development over the course of his academic career. After fusing his ag-development interests with applied economics studies at Cornell, Ben put this passion to work at Kisano. Today, Kisano operates India’s largest high-tech vertical farm and focuses its efforts on enabling the growth of efficient, climate smart farming techniques through knowledge and technology dissemination in South and Southeast Asia. During the summer of 2022, Ben participated in a strategy internship with Blue Ocean Barns.

By pursuing a graduate degree in international policy at Stanford, with a focus on food and the environment, Ben hopes to broaden his understanding and build his capacity to tackle the challenges of the next 100 years. When he isn’t thinking about those things though, Ben loves cooking family style meals, reading nonfiction, hiking when he can, and making music with friends.