Tanya Denckla Cobb
Education
B.A., Government, Smith College
Biography
Director of the Institute for Engagement & Negotiation (IEN) since 2015, Tanya Denckla Cobb is a professional public policy mediator with deep experience in mediating and facilitating challenging issues across a broad range of community and regional issues. She is passionate about bringing people together to discover common ground and create solutions for mutual gain. Her winding pathway to this profession exposed her to conflict management in numerous different sectors - working in international labor rights, community and family mediation, and serving as director of two community forestry nonprofit organizations.
After training as a mediator in 1991, she became one of the first Virginia-certified mediators in 1993. She also became certified to train mediators and to mentor mediators-in-training with the Community Mediation Center of Charlottesville.
In 1997 she joined the Institute for Engagement & Negotiation where her work involves facilitating and mediating a broad range of community and environmental issues, and also conducting a wide range of trainings in conflict management and negotiation.
Tanya loves to work with the student interns at IEN, as well as to teach and work with learners of all ages. In 1999, she co-founded and continues to serve as teaching faculty for the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (VNRLI), a cross-sector professional development program. She also continues to teach a seminar for the National Preservation Institute (NPI) on negotiation and conflict management for cultural and natural resources.
Through her time at UVA she also has led numerous efforts in sustainable food systems - teaching a graduate course on food system planning for eight years, coordinating In 2007 the first Virginia Food Security Summit, co-facilitating the founding of the Virginia Food System Council, co-founding an experimental multi-university Food Systems Leadership course, and co-founding and continuing to coordinate and Chair the UVA Sustainable Food Collaborative.
She has authored two books relating to sustainable food systems, co-authored numerous journal articles, co-authored chapters for three other books, and with the IEN team facilitated three Governor's Summits and produced dozens of reports for state agencies and other clients on stakeholder consensus-seeking processes. At home, she enjoys the restorative energy of gardening and cooking from her garden.
While IEN is known nationally for its work, one of my goals is to raise IEN’s profile and value within the university itself. I am working with the IEN team to foster cross-university research partnerships on community resilience and also to expand our training and mediation services within the university. In addition to working with the large teaching faculty team to ensure that the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute, a professional development program, stays fresh and cutting-edge every year, the IEN team also is building a set of professional training modules in group facilitation, conflict management, and equitable collaboration.
Books and Chapters
“The Art of the Town-Gown Dance: Healing Legacies of Harm in our Food System through Equitable Engagement Pedagogy.” Chapter with Shantell Bingham in Planning for Urban Agriculture in the USA: Future Directions for a new Ethic in City Building, edited by Samina Raja, Brandon Born, Marcia Caton Campbell, Alfonso Morales, Alexandra Judelsohn. (Springer:2024).
The Backyard Homestead Guide to Growing Organic Good: A Crop-by-Crop Reference for 62 Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts, and Herbs (Storey Publishing: 2024).
“Communities: Teaming with Companies, Cities, States, Academia (The RAFT).” Chapter with Elizabeth Andrews, Michelle Covi, and Angela M. King in Collaborating for Climate Resilience, edited by Ann Goodman. (Routledge: 2022)
“Community Food Interventions for Healing: The Cases of Janus Youth and Lynchburg Grows.” Chapter with Carla Jones in Healthy Environments, Healing Spaces: Practices and Directions in Health, Planning and Design, edited by Timothy Beatley, Carla Jones, and Reuben Rainey (UVA Press: 2018).
Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement is Changing The Way We Eat (Storey Publishing: 2011). Selected as a “common reader” by Southern Illinois University in 2012.
The Gardener's A to Z Guide to Growing Organic Food (Storey Publishing: 2004). Note: Earlier versions of this book include: 1) Organic Gardener’s Home Reference (Storey Publishing: 1994); and 2) Gardening At A Glance: The Organic Gardener’s Handbook On Vegetables, Fruits, Nuts & Herbs (Wooden Angel Publications: 1991).
Basic Mediation Skills Training Manual, for the Community Mediation Center of Charlottesville, 1997. With Jim Boyd, Teresa Miller, Michael Stowers. Chaired development committee.
Peer Reviewed Articles
Wie, Y., Denckla Cobb, T., & Andrews, E. The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) as an approach for incorporating equity into coastal resilience planning and project implementation. Shore & Beach, 90(4), 53-63. 2022.
Amy A. O’Leary, John S. Miller, Rick D. Youngblood, David B. Cook, Shelley L. Wynne, and Tanya Denckla Cobb. “Using Performance Measures to Strengthen Public Involvement in Identifying Targeted Transportation Investments.” Transportation Research Record, 1-18. 2020.
“How Should FDA Implement a More Rational and Workable Approach to Regulating Tobacco, Nicotine, and Alternative Harm Reduction Products?” Food and Drug Law Institute Policy Forum, Vol. 3, Issue 18, October 12, 2013. This article presents eight Core Principles developed through a series of stakeholder dialogues convened by IEN.
“The Food Policy Audit: A New Tool for Community Food System Planning,” O’Brien, Jennifer and Tanya Denckla Cobb. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD), Vol. 2, Issue 3, June 2012.
“Community DECISION: Stakeholder focused watershed planning,” Bosch, Darrell and James Pease, Mary Leigh Wolfe, Christopher Zobel, Javier Osorio, Tanya Denckla Cobb, Greg Evanylo. Journal of Environmental Management, Vol 112 (2012) 226-232.
“Virginia – An Emerging Leader in the Nation’s Local Food Movement,” The Virginia News Letter, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of Virginia. September 15, 2011.
“The Waste Solutions Forum: An Innovative and Cooperative Approach to Support the Agricultural Community and Protect Water Quality.” Bendfeldt, Eric and Katharine Knowlton, Tanya Denckla Cobb, Franklin Dukes, Kathy Holm, and Jactone Arogo Ogejo. Community Development, Journal of the Community Development Society. Vol. 38, No. 4, Winter 2007 (Jan 2008).
“Implementing Waste Solutions for Dairy and Livestock Farms.” Knowlton, K. F. and T. Denckla Cobb. Journal of Dairy Sciences. 89: 1372-1383, May 2006.
“Linking Theory to Practice: A Theory of Change Model of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute.” Addor, Mary Lou and Tanya Denckla Cobb, Franklin Dukes; Michael Ellerbrock, and L. Steve Smutko. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 2, Winter 2005.
Selected Research and Special Reports
“A Study of Small Renewable Energy Projects: Impact on Natural Resources (HB 206), a report to the Governor and four Chairs of relevant House and Senate Committees in Virginia’s legislature; a consensus-building Regulatory Advisory Panel (RAP) consisting of nearly 80 stakeholders, 2022.
Healthy Food Pantry Partnership Screening and Referral Evaluation Report, 2022. With Camille Burnett, PhD. and Ha Do Byon, Ph.D., Anne Nelson Stoner, Sophie Delzell, and Sarah Rizk.
“Findings and Recommendations for President Ryan: Pathway for Repatriation and Creation of a Meaningful Relationship with Native American and Indigenous Communities.” January 2022.
“A Study of Tree Conservation and Preservation in Development (HJR 2042),” a report to the Secretaries of Agriculture and Forestry, and of Natural Resources, 2021.
“Maryland Climate Adaptation and Resilience Framework: 2021-2030.
University of Virginia’s “Sustainable Food Action Plan: 2021-2030.”
The Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (The RAFT), reports, maps, tools, videos, and assessments at http://raft.ien.virginia.edu, 2015-present.
“Governor’s Summit on Equitable Collaboration: 2021,” final report, videos, website.
“Summary Report of the Model Ecosystem Restoration and Conservation Collaboratives Project,” Weaver, Kristina and Tanya Denckla Cobb, Michael Foreman. For National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, June 2019.
Lower Chickahominy Watershed Collaborative Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between local governments and three Tribes, 2021. First MOU developed in VA between Tribes and localities.
Civil Dialogues on Tobacco, Nicotine, and Alternative Products Harm Reduction: Addressing a National and Global Smoking Epidemic, A Product of the Morven Dialogues, 2011-2018.
“A Study of Virginia Farm Wineries – 2017 Appropriations Act, Chapter 836, Item 88,” prepared for the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry to the Governor and General Assembly, 2018.
Awards & Honors
- UVA Sustainability Leadership Award for Collaborative Governance, awarded to IEN: I led four of the five accomplishments noted in the award (2022).
- Women in History Award, Daughters of the American Revolution, Shadwell, VA (2016).
- Reclaiming Our Food: named by Booklist “One of top 10 books on the environment.” (2012)
- Reclaiming Our Food: Nautilus Gold Green Living Award, for books that promote spiritual growth, conscious living, positive social change, and stimulate the imagination (2012).
- Virginia General Assembly, Senate Resolution of Support for the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute (2009).
- Merit Award, Va Chapter of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, for excellence in training Va’s leaders to address community conflicts on natural resources and environmental issues (2002).
- Urban Forestry Award to Greener Harrisonburg, Shenandoah SWCD (1994).
- U.S. Department of Labor Award for Distinguished Achievement, for outstanding service in promoting international standards on trade union rights, and for vital contribution to the continuing review of United States policy toward Poland (1984)
