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Upcoming Lecture - Can Sustainable Agriculture Feed the World? The Role of Innovation and Thinking Outside the Box

mmgrant — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 16:23:49 +0000

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 - 7:00pm

Can Sustainable Agriculture Feed the World? What is the role of innovation and thinking outside the box?

Consumers are increasingly demanding foods that are both healthy and produced in an environmentally sustainable ecosystem. At the same time, millions of people around the globe continue to face hunger and food insecurity. How can agriculture and food producers meet growing food demand in a world where they face resource and environmental constraints by leveraging innovative agricultural technologies and thinking outside the box?

CS Liew will discuss cutting edge global innovations developed by producers, entrepreneurs and policy makers that aim to address these demands as well as examine their challenges and opportunities. Liew will draw on examples from the U.S. and around the world, including alternative proteins (lab-grown meat, milk and eggs), biosolutions, gene editing, integrated pest management (IPM), indoor and vertical farming, and regenerative agriculture. His presentation will discuss how students can develop their own creative strategies for thinking outside the box and leave you with lots of food for thought.

CS Liew is a graduate of Iowa State University in Agronomy and Integrated Pest Management with 45 years of global experience in the agricultural inputs industry. He is Managing Director of Singapore-based Pacific Agriscience and is active in global mergers and acquisitions. He has served in many prestigious positions, currently this includes Council member of the World Agriculture Forum, and member of the Advisory Board of Agribusiness Global (a world-renowned agricultural inputs magazine based in Ohio, USA). He is a highly sought after speaker for his global expertise on agriculture.

When: 7 PM; 2 Oct, 2024 Light refreshments will be served starting at 6:30 p.m. before the lecture begins.

Where: 1148 Gerdin

Sponsors:

CALS Pathways to Innovation and Leadership
ISU Ag Business Club
Start Something in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
CALS Office for Global Engagement and Global Programs
Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government)

Tags:

Lecture

international agriculture

ISU student's international experience and undergraduate research set the stage for Goldwater Scholarship

mmgrant — Mon, 29 Apr 2024 16:18:28 +0000

AMES, Iowa – A resume that includes international experience and involvement with undergraduate research laid the foundation for Iowa State University student Emma Alstott to receive a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship this semester.

Alstott, a global resource systems and horticulture major from Fort Dodge, received word that she’d been selected for the scholarship last week while she was studying in Greece. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering in the United States. The scholarships are awarded by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation to encourage outstanding undergraduate students to pursue careers in STEM research.

The foundation announced 438 new scholarships in 2024, selecting recipients from a pool of 1,353 outstanding undergraduates nominated by 446 institutions.

Alstott credited her international experience and participation in research while studying at Iowa State as keys that helped set her apart from the pack. Her first international experience came in high school, when she spent two weeks in Kosovo in a city that had formalized a sister-city relationship with Fort Dodge.

“After experiencing what it was like in another country and seeing so many people from a different part of the world, I knew I wanted to have an international focus as well as an agricultural focus,” Alstott said.

Alstott dove headfirst into research during her first semester at Iowa State with the ISU EARTH Program, which has offered students opportunities for education, outreach and research on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands since 2010. Alstott conducted a literature review that helped create a guide on the ecological importance of 25 plant species native to national parks in the Virgin Islands. Later, she began conducting research on bacterial threats to fruits such as apples, pears, berries and grapes.

She joined 4-H in fourth grade and got her first experience with farm management on her neighbor’s farm and in her home garden in high school. She found she enjoyed problem solving and strategic thinking in agricultural settings.

“Since these were hobby farms, we didn’t have huge resources,” she said. “That meant that I had a lot of time to figure issues out myself. I gained such an interest in pathogens and disease prevention.”

Alstott has spent the current semester studying at the American Farm School in Greece. The school is a private institution in Thessaloniki that focuses on precision agriculture and sustainable farming methods to serve rural populations in Greece and the Balkans. Studying abroad meant that she had to spend a lot of time on the phone with her friends and family the day she learned she’d been selected for the Goldwater Scholarship.

“It was very surreal telling everyone that I’d gotten the scholarship,” she said. “It’s such a big validation of the amount of work I’ve put into my research experience at Iowa State.”

Alstott is on track to finish her undergraduate work in spring 2026. After that, she hopes to earn a master’s and Ph.D. in plant pathology combating pathogens that threaten fruits and vegetables.

�� the scholarship

The scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. One-year scholarships are available to juniors, and two-year scholarships are available to sophomores. Students who wish to apply must complete an application process, and a selection committee determines the university’s endorsed candidates. Iowa State’s Goldwater Scholarship Campus Committee included John Milstead, coordinator of nationally competitive awards; Kent Kerby, assistant dean in the ISU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; Frank Peters, director of the ISU �� Center; Eric Underbakke, associate professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology; and Svitlana Zbarska, campus-wide undergraduate research program coordinator.

Students interested in applying for the Goldwater Scholarship should contact Milstead at milstea5@iastate.edu. To learn more about undergraduate research opportunities, contact Zbarska at szbar@iastate.edu.

Original article posted, https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2024/04/16/2024goldwater

Tags:

American Farm School-Perrotis College

EARTH Program

international agriculture

Author(s):

Fred Love- ISU News Service

When opportunity knocks

mmgrant — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 13:49:59 +0000

When Gillian Anderson (’24 agricultural and rural policy studies, international agriculture) received an email revealing the details of an extraordinary opportunity, she thought it was unattainable, so she deleted it. Fortunately, a follow-up conversation with Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice assistant teaching professor and advisor Ramesh Balayar gave Anderson the confidence to take a second look. She is grateful she did because during the summer of 2023, Anderson was living in Rome, Italy, collaborating with a United Nations organization that combats food insecurity.

The experience, made possible through the Dean’s Global Agriculture and Food Leadership Program, is administered through Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It gives students the chance to gain valuable skills and knowledge related to global agricultural production, resources, and food issues. Students conduct coursework on campus during spring semester before spending the first month of summer break in Rome, working directly with United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) professionals.

A new direction

For Anderson, working with FAO sparked a new interest in research.

“I would love to work for a multi-national organization or nongovernmental organization doing research, something similar to what I was doing his summer,” Anderson said. “My favorite thing about this experience was the sense of purpose I got out of it, but also the opportunity to work with experts in their field in such a cool place like FAO. As a college student, I would have never pictured myself doing anything like that, so all around it was amazing.”

Anderson worked with an FAO group that researched information for an upcoming report related to genetic livestock resources. Specifically, Anderson focused on the social and political implications of gene-editing in livestock, including what regulations prevent gene-editing from progressing and how low- to middle-income countries might respond to gene-edited livestock.

She admits the research was intense, but it helped guide her future career path.

“I would like to go to grad school, either for rural sociology or international development,” she said. “I really have an interest in research and working for an organization like I did this summer. I’m also not ruling out teaching at the college level.”

A major revelation

Anderson initially planned to major in animal science when she came to Iowa State, but after a heavy dose of the hard sciences her first year, she realized the humanities were a better fit. Agriculture, however, was still her focus. That’s when Anderson discovered the agricultural and rural policy studies major in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice. She appreciates the multi-faceted approach the major takes toward agriculture.

“It’s kind of like sociology and political science and agriculture all put together,” Anderson said. “You also get more than just an Iowa-centric view of agriculture. You really get a global perspective.”

Anderson can’t think of one agricultural and rural policy studies class she hasn’t loved. One of her first courses was Rural Society in Transition (SOC 230), where they discussed issues facing rural America. This hit home for Anderson, who grew up in Charles City, Iowa.

“I grew up in a rural community so I could see some of those issues being mirrored in my own community and it was really interesting to learn about why that stuff is happening and dig deeper into it,” she said.

Find your passion

Anderson credits the Dean’s Global Agriculture and Food Leadership Program with opening her eyes to the possibilities that exist in the global agriculture arena. As a result, she is participating in programs in Nepal over spring break and in Uganda this upcoming summer to explore those interests even further. She advises current and future agricultural and rural policy studies students to find their passions as well.

“I wouldn’t have gotten involved with this stuff if I hadn’t found what I was really interested in and if I hadn’t fallen into ag and rural policy,” Anderson said. “I think finding out what you’re interested in and excited about just opens up everything else.”

Original story posted: https://soc-cj.iastate.edu/2024/02/05/when-opportunity-knocks/

Tags:

Dean's Global Agriculture and Food Leadership Program

Agricultural and Rural Policy

international agriculture

Rome

FAO

Gillian Anderson

Author(s):

Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice