Sierra is a doctoral candidate in Food Studies, in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. Her dissertation research focuses on ethnic restaurants in New York City, addressing issues of identity, ethnicity, entrepreneurship, and social equality. She is interested in the intersection of consumers’ and producers’ priorities and the reproduction of urban foodscapes. She teaches courses on food and culture and on contemporary food issues.
Sierra holds a B.A. from Brown University in international relations, graduating magna cum laude and joining Phi Beta Kappa, and a Grand Diplôme in Culinary Arts with honors from the French Culinary Institute. She has worked as a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations and as an editor at Saveur magazine.