Helen Ann Curry

Helen Ann Curry is the Melvin Kranzberg Professor in History of Technology in the School of History and Sociology at Georgia Tech. She leads the project From Collection to Cultivation: Historical Perspectives on Crop Diversity and Food Security, funded by the Wellcome Trust. This team of researchers is re-writing the history of how today’s food crops came to be. From Collection to Cultivation has its origins in Curry’s study of the history of efforts to conserve diverse varieties of food crops. This history was the focus of a Pro Futura Scientia Fellowship
from 2017–2020 and a Wellcome Seed Award from 2016–17. It is also the subject of Curry’s 2022 book, Endangered Maize: Industrial Agriculture and the Crisis of Extinction. This research addresses the history of seed banking and seed saving, seed vaults, vegetable sanctuaries, and international crop conservation programs.