Selena Mao—ReFED’s Manager of Research & Insights—initially joined ReFED in 2021 as a Research Analyst. She had begun her career as a product designer in the publishing space, but she soon became disillusioned with the profit-centric approach to design. “The urgency of climate change contributed to my daily dread but also ultimately drove me to rethink my career path,” Selena explains.
Seeking to align her work to promote positive socio-environmental change, she became interested in how planning and efficient resource management can foster equitable and sustainable urban environments.
Through her work in the planning division of the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, she was exposed to the power of “data as a mechanism for considering the distribution of social, economic, and environmental equity.” Her work supported the city’s first equity-based parks initiative, which invested resources into historically underserved parks in high-need neighborhoods across the city. Simultaneously, she was working back-of-house at a Japanese restaurant that operated on the philosophy of mottainai, which conveys regret over waste. “It functioned as a closed-loop system,” Selena says of the restaurant’s operations. “We tried to honor every part of the ingredient, from root to leaf or skin to bone. This holistic approach not only minimized waste but also allowed us to showcase the full potential and flavor of each ingredient. It's a practice deeply rooted in a respect for the resources we have.” These experiences inspired Selena to pursue a graduate degree in urban planning with a focus on food systems—a choice that eventually led her to ReFED.
According to ReFED’s estimates, 38% of the food is produced in the United States goes unsold or uneaten, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, economic losses, environmental degradation, and other negative impacts. The good news? Food waste is a solvable and “universally resonant” problem, as Selena describes, because food is a fundamental necessity that holds cultural and social importance in every society. Researching and translating the potential impacts of solutions to this problem is the focus of Selena's work as Manager of Research & Insights at ReFED.
“My primary focus is quantifying the impact of food waste solutions that, to date, ReFED has not had sufficient data to model,” says Selena. “We’re evaluating how effective these solutions are in preventing food waste, the types of food they target, the specific causes of food waste they address, who bears the costs and reaps the benefits associated with implementing them, and to what extent they’re being implemented across different markets.”
Her other projects include working with Menus of Change Research Collaborative to pilot a solution across university campuses to repurpose ingredients that would otherwise have been thrown out, and helping to research the extent of solution implementation among retailers participating in the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment. She also recently contributed to a study in partnership with UC Davis that evaluates the impact of state-level policies on reducing food loss and waste and those policies’ alignment with the federal goal to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
Selena's role is a critical piece of the larger Data & Insights team at ReFED, which maintains and develops ReFED’s Insights Engine, an online data and solutions data platform for understanding food waste in the U.S. “My main goal is to spot gaps in the current food waste solution ecosystem and figure out why they exist,” Selena explains of her specific work. “Are there areas of waste that aren’t being addressed? Why is that? Where are the current solutions falling short, and what are we missing? These questions drive our research agenda.”
Much of the data about this food waste solution ecosystem can be found within the Insights Engine in the Solutions Database. This comprehensive tool—“a model of many models,” as Selena calls it—compiles and evaluates various strategies, technologies, and practices aimed at reducing food waste throughout the food supply chain. These solutions are assessed based on factors such as economic viability, scalability, environmental and social benefits, and the total volume of food diverted from becoming waste. “It serves as a valuable tool for businesses, policymakers, and nonprofit organizations seeking to implement effective food waste reduction initiatives.”
As data continues to drive the conversation about food waste reduction, Selena is excited about exploring new research frontiers to keep data current and relevant. “Data not only helps us tackle the problem of food waste more effectively, but it also keeps us adaptable and accountable as we work towards longer-term targets,” she explains. Working with so many different research stakeholders energizes Selena in her day-to-day work, and she recognizes that food is something that unites us. “Everyone can relate to the issue of food waste,” she declares. “It brings together people with different backgrounds, beliefs, and motivations to the same table to work toward common goals.”