Climate change and its impact on the global food system is topic of upcoming MSU discussion

October 19, 2020

Public encouraged to participate in important virtual conversation

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State University (MSU) AgBioResearch will host a virtual discussion, “Climate change and its impact on food and agriculture,” Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. EDT.

The conversation will be moderated by Sheril Kirshenbaum, host of the Our Table events – part of the Food@MSU initiative to raise awareness and generate dialogue on various food related issues. Kirshenbaum, also the founder of Science Debate and co-director of the MSU Food Engagement and Literacy Poll, has worked in the climate space for over 20 years.

“Climate change poses tremendous challenges to our global food system and I am looking forward to this round table conversation spanning perspectives and bridging disciplines,” said Kirshenbaum.

Panelists are:

Nick Haddad, senior terrestrial ecologist with W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and professor of integrative biology with Michigan State University, studies the application of ecological principles to the conservation of biodiversity, from individual rare animals to all species living within a community. His lab is also focused on strategies such as the use of habitat corridors intended to overcome the loss of habitat and fragmentation. He has more than 25 years of experience conducting long-term, large-scale experiments on the relationship between ecology, natural resources and agriculture.
Jordan
Rebecca Jordan, chair of the Michigan State University Department of Community Sustainability, focuses on understanding how people reason with scientific data. In particular, she seeks to understand how individuals generate and test explanations for complex phenomena. She has worked with several audiences (e.g., grade 6-12 students, undergraduate and graduate students, and the public involved in citizen science) to test general research questions about causal reasoning with regard to individual decision-making in environmental contexts.
Ronald
Pamela Ronald, distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center at UC Davis and the director of the Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy, uses genetic techniques to understand the plant response to infection and tolerance to environmental stress. With her collaborators, she received the 2008 USDA National Research Initiative Discovery Award and the 2012 Tech Award for the innovative use of technology to benefit humanity. In 2015 Scientific American named her one of the 100 most influential people in biotechnology.
Webber
Michael Webber serves as the Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE, a global energy and infrastructure services company. He is also a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin where he trains the next generation of energy leaders through research and education at the convergence of engineering, policy and commercialization. He has authored more than 400 scientific articles, columns, books and book chapters.