BIFAD public sessions resume today

The meeting of the presidentially appointed Board for International Food and Agricultural Development at Purdue continues today (Oct. 21), including morning and afternoon panel discussions and the closing session hosted by President Mitch Daniels.

The two-day meeting features experts in the science and policy of food production and food security from Purdue and elsewhere around the country.

All of the sessions are open to the public.

These morning activities will be in Purdue Memorial Union's South Ballroom:

* 8:30-9 a.m.:  BIFAD member outreach reports.

* 9-9:30 a.m.: Presentation of awards.

* 9:30-10:30 a.m.: Panel 1: "Climate-Smart Agriculture: Closing the Yield Gap in a Changing Climate." Host: Jeffrey Dukes, director, Purdue Climate Change Research Center and professor of forestry and natural resources and biological sciences. Moderator: Thomas Hertel, Distinguished Professor of Agriculture. Panelists: Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding and genetics and Wickersham Chair; Linda Prokopy, associate professor of natural resource social science; and Lisa Ainsworth, associate professor of plant biology, University of Illinois.

* 10:30-10:50 a.m.: Response by Nora Lapitan, acting division chief, Research Division, Agricultural Research and Policy Office, United States Agency for International Development. Question/answer and comment period by BIFAD members.

* 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.: Panel 2: "Plant Sciences Research and Education Pipeline." Host/moderator: Karen Plaut, College of Agriculture's senior associate dean for research and faculty affairs. Panelists: Melba Crawford, associate dean of engineering for research; Katy Rainey, assistant professor of agronomy; and Jian-Kang Zhu, distinguished professor of plant biology.

* 12:15-12:30 p.m. Question/answer and comment period by BIFAD Members. Public comment period (in-person audience and submitted questions).

These afternoon activities will in Stewart Center's rooms 302/306:

* 2 p.m.-2:15 p.m. BIFAD Chair Brady Deaton to introduce Al Lenhardt, USAID acting administrator, and Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Remarks by Lenhardt and McPherson.

* 2:15-3:45 p.m.: Panel 3: "State, Industry and University Partnership and Roles in Feeding a Growing World." Moderator: Jay Akridge, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture. Panelists: Ted McKinney, director, Indiana State Department of Agriculture; Jim Moseley, farmer and former USDA undersecretary of natural resources; Scott Hutchins, Global R&D leader, Dow AgroSciences; Betty Bugusu, managing director, International Food Technology Center (FPL Project); Dieudonné Baributsa, research assistant professor (Purdue Improved Crop Storage -- PICS2); and Gary Burniske, managing director, Center for Global Food Security (Borlaug Fellows Program).

* 3:45-4 p.m.: Question/answer and comment period by BIFAD members. Public comment period (in-person audience and submitted questions).

The closing, special presidential panel will be 6:30-7:45 p.m. in Stewart Center's Fowler Hall. Daniels will moderate the discussion with Lenhardt; McPherson; Deaton, BIFAD chair and chancellor emeritus of the University of Missouri; James Morris, former executive director of United Nations World Food Programme and now president of Pacers Sports and Entertainment.

Public sessions from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. will be streamed live at http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/j4232.

There also will be live tweets on Twitter that can be followed at "#BIFAD."