Troy Wiipongwii

Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Conservation

Email: [[ttwiipongwii]]
Social Media: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/troywiipongwii/
Focus Areas: Ecopreneurship, Economics of Conservation, Food System Modeling, Governance, Indigenous Data Sovereignty

Biography

Troy Wiipongwii, PhD, MPP is the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for conservation. He was named one of Virginia Business 40 under 40 in 2025 for his work on food systems and economic development in Virginia. His prior appointments at W&M include affiliate faculty and Director of the Global Research Institutes Blockchain Lab.

Troy is an interdisciplinary researcher focused on the design of sustainable, equitable food systems through the integration of institutional analysis, decision science, and data-informed interventions. Wiipongwii’s work investigates how diverse stakeholders, including tribal nations, federal and local governments, and informal community organizations, coordinate to address systemic food challenges. Drawing on participatory action research and community co-creation methods, Wiipongwii examines decision-making behaviors across the food system supply chain and identifies barriers to adopting sustainable practices, such as cultural disconnects, information asymmetries, and institutional constraints.

By leveraging information and communication technologies (ICT) and data science, including simulation modeling and systems thinking, Wiipongwii co-designs decision support tools that are responsive to stakeholder needs and attuned to principles of data sovereignty, particularly Indigenous data sovereignty. These tools aim to empower food system actors with context-sensitive, culturally relevant insights to enhance resilience, equity, economic growth and environmental stewardship in food systems.

Education and Training:

PhD, Data Science and Technology, School of Technology, Capitol Technology University, 2022
MPP, School of Public Policy, William & Mary, 2018
BS, Applied Mathematics, Southern New Hampshire University, 2016

Selected Publications:

Conrad, Z., Leu, M., Fulcher, E., Wu, S., DiStaso, C., Boston, J., ... & Wiipongwii, T. (2025). Exploring the crop suitability of first-contact tribal lands in the eastern United States: impacts of past and near-future climate conditions. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 27854.

Rowe, S., Brady, C., Sarang, R., Wiipongwii, T., Leu, M., Jennings, L., ... & Conrad, Z. (2024). Improving Indigenous Food Sovereignty through sustainable food production: a narrative review. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 8, 1341146.

Conrad, Z., Wu, S., Johnson, L. K., Kun, J. F., Roy, E. D., Gephart, J. A., ... & Love, D. C. (2024). Foodprint 2.0: A computational simulation model that estimates the agricultural resource requirements of diet patterns. Plos one, 19(9), e0306097.

Wiipongwii, T., Jennings, L., Fritton, B., Rocchi, J., Kun, J., Nikonha, P. W., ... & Conrad, Z. (2024). IndigiFoodDB: A Database of Indigenous Foods, their Flavors, Nutrition, and Environmental Impact. Nutrition, and Environmental Impact (January 14, 2024).

Conrad, Zach; Cyril, Ashley; Kowalski, Corina; Jackson, Erin; Hendrickx, Brittany; Lan, Jessie Jie; McDowell, Acree; Salesses, Meredith; Love, David C; Wiipongwii, Troy; Zhang, Fang Fang; Blackstone, Nicole Tichenor. (2022). Diet sustainability analyses can be improved with updates to the Food Commodity Intake Database. Frontiers in Nutrition (In Press).

Ibba, N., Wiipongwii, T., & Chung, T. T. R. (2021). SimChain: Simulator for Supply Chain Decision Making with Blockchain.

Keilitz, I., & Wiipongwii, T. (2019). Ten Things You Should Know About Blockchain Today: A Guide for Court Managers. Court Manager Vol. 34 #2 – Summer 2019

Keilitz, I., & Wiipongwii, T. (2017). Blockchain and international development: Can blockchain technology be the solution to effective land registration systems in developing nations? Wm. & Mary Pol'y Rev., 9, 52.

Conference Papers and Presentations