Research & Innovation

AGENDA

October 20, 2021
9:15 a.m. CDT - 10:30 a.m. CDT (Des Moines, USA)

Transforming food systems requires a strong evidence base along with technology innovations. Research provides the evidence needed to produce safe, nutritious diets, especially for our most vulnerable populations. Research and technology advancements must improve agricultural production and the sustainability of food systems. Through these and other key topics, roundtable speakers will highlight successful projects for rapidly scaling rural agriculture development.

Aneesh Chauhan Expertise Lead, Agro Robotics, Wageningen University Dr. Aneesh Chauhan is the Expertise leader of the Computer Vision Group at Food and Biobased Research Institute and am part of the Agro-food robotics team which focuses on applying state of the art in computer vision, machine learning and robotics to several aspects of agro-food processes. Our mission is... [ View ]

Elliott Dossou-Yovo Borlaug Field Award recipient; Agriculture and Climate Change Specialist, Africa Rice Center Elliott Dossou-Yovo is currently a scientist in climate change and agriculture at the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) based in M’bé near Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire. His research focuses on the development, validation and scaling of innovative water management technologies to increase the resilience of smallholders farmers to climate change and to... [ View ]

Sam Eathington SVP / CTO, Corteva Agriscience Sam Eathington, Ph.D., is SVP and Chief Technology Officer of Corteva Agriscience, where he leads the company’s global Research and Development organization, building and expanding its industry-leading pipeline. A leader in agricultural innovation, Eathington most recently served as CSO of The Climate Corporation, part of Bayer Crop Science. Previously, Eathington spent more... [ View ]

Mike Graham Head of Plant Breeding, Bayer Crop Sciences Michael (Mike) Graham is the Head of Plant Breeding for the Crop Science division of Bayer. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, he oversees the plant genetics and breeding program, leading a global team to develop seed with better genetics for farmers. Mike is a third-generation plant scientist discovering new ways to... [ View ]

Julie Howard Senior Adviser (non-resident), Global Food Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Julie Howard is an independent consultant focusing on food and agricultural system development in sub-Saharan Africa and related US policies and programs. She is a non-resident Senior Adviser in the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Howard is a Director of the World... [ View ]

Greg Jaffe Biotechnology Project Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest Gregory Jaffe is the Biotechnology Project Director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer organization located in the U.S. Mr. Jaffe came to CSPI in 2001 after a distinguished career in government service as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice and as Senior... [ View ]

Amy Kaleita Interim Department Chair, Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University Amy Kaleita is Professor and Interim Department Chair in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State. She received a BS degree in Agricultural Engineering from Penn State in 1997, an MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois with an emphasis in hydrology in 1999, and PhD in Agricultural... [ View ]

Lindiwe Majele Sibanda Director & Chairwoman, African Res. Univ. Alliance Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems Professor Lindiwe Majele Sibanda is an animal scientist and a practicing farmer, serving as a policy advisor to numerous African governments and global institutions. She is the Director and Chair of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Pretoria, South... [ View ]

Pamela Ronald Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Plant Pathology and the Genome Center, UC Davis Pamela Ronald completed her Ph.D. at UC Berkeley (1990), earned a B.S. from the Reed College (1982), an M.S. from Stanford University and an M.S. from the University of Uppsala, Sweden. Prof Ronald uses genetic techniques to understand the plant response to infection and tolerance to environmental stress. With her... [ View ]

Claudia Sadoff Managing Director, Research Delivery & Impact, Executive Management Team Convener, CGIAR System Org. Dr. Claudia Sadoff is the CGIAR Executive Management Team Convener and Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact. She was previously the Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and spent over 20 years at the World Bank in positions including Lead Economist and Global Lead for Water Security... [ View ]

Joachim von Braun Director of ZEF, Department of Economic and Technological Change Joachim von Braun is a Director of the Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn University, and Professor for economic and technological change. He received his doctoral degree in agricultural economics from the University of Goettingen, Germany. His research is on economic development, science and technology policy, poverty reduction, food and... [ View ]