Fourth Annual International Food Security Symposium

Food Security in the 21st Century: Envisioning R&D Strategies for Meeting the Demand

FOURTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FOOD SECURITY AT ILLINOIS (IFSI) SYMPOSIUM

Celebrating the partnership between the College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

Monday, 30 April – Tuesday, 1 May, 2018

ACES Library, 1101 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL

Sessions are being live-streamed at go.illinois.edu/live

To avoid a world food crisis and meet the demand of 11.2 billion people by the year 2100, 3.6 billion more than today, agricultural productivity will need to increase each year while adjusting to more frequent and severe environmental stresses associated with climate change. Of particular concern, yields of our most important staple crops are not currently increasing at a rate sufficient to meet future demands. However, recent technological advances, such as low-cost genomic sequencing, genome editing, high-throughput phenotyping, and big data analytics are providing new R&D opportunities. In this symposium, researchers will share their visions for addressing this critically important challenge for humanity. Symposium sessions will focus on: 1) mining germplasm banks efficiently and effectively, 2) training the next generation of agricultural scientists, 3) addressing abiotic and biotic stresses in the context of climate change, and 4) improving photosynthesis.



*Monday 30 April 2018*
9:15	Campus Tour for invited speakers
11:30	Arrive at the College of ACES Library
noon-13:30	Welcome Address by Dr. Kimberlee Kidwell, Dean College of ACES, and Reflections on the IRRI-ACES Partnership by Dr. German Bollero, Associate Dean for Research, ACES Location: Heritage Room
*Lunch will be served
Session 1 (Germplasm) Chaired by Dr. Erik Sacks, Associate Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, ACES, UIUC Location: Monsanto Room
13:30	Dr. Colin Khoury, National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation, USDA/CIAT Crop Diversity in the Next 50 Years of International Agricultural Research
14:00	Dr. Denise E. Costich, Maize Germplasm Collection, Head, CIMMYT Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: CIMMYT's Global Collection of Maize in its Center of Origin and Diversity
14:30	Dr. J. Damien Platten, Scientist - Genomics Applications, IRRI Harvesting the Genetic Diversity of Rice
15:00	Break Location: Heritage Room
15:30	Dr. Ray Ming, Professor, Department of Plant Biology, UIUC Genomics and Biotechnology for Global Food Security
16:00	Dr. Jauhar Ali, Project Leader and Regional Coordinator- Green Super Rice (GSR) Project, IRRI Genomic Assisted Breeding of Climate-Smart Rice Inbred and Hybrid Varieties
16:30	Panel discussion led by Drs. Sacks, Diers and Nelson
17:00 - 18:00	Reception and Student Poster Session Location: Heritage Room

*Tuesday 1 May 2018*
Session 2 (Education) Chair: Dr. Peter Brothers, Head, IRRI Education Location: Monsanto Room
8:00	Video Presentation from Lee Fellows
8:30	Dr. Peter Brothers, Head, IRRI Education Training the Next Generation of Scientists
9:00	Dr. Austen Moore, Post Doc, ACES, UIUC Amplifying the Impact of Agricultural Technologies through Strengthened Extension
9:30	Break Location: Heritage Room
10:00	Dr. (John) Jack Juvik, Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, UIUC Establishing Collaborations to Create Educational Opportunities for the Training of Future Agricultural Scientists
10:30	Dr. Fred Cholick, President, Borlaug Training Foundation Borlaug Training Foundation: Developing the Next Generation of Hunger Fighters
11:00	Panel discussion led by Drs. Juvik and Brothers
11:30	Keynote by Dr. Robert Zeigler, Director General Emeritus, IRRI) Reflections on What It Takes to Access Germplasm to Address the Challenges Posed by Global Climate Change Location: Heritage Room
*Lunch will be served
Session 3 (Abiotic and Biotic Stress) Chair: Dr. Nathan Schroeder, Assistant Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, ACES, UIUC Location: Monsanto Room
12:30	Dr. Buyung Hadi, IRRI Representative to Cambodia, Senior Scientist in Entomology Co-designing Conservation Biocontrol Schemes with Asian Rice Farmers for Sustainable Food Production
13:00	Dr. Andrew Margenot, Assistant Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, ACES, UIUC Climate Change Underfoot: Beyond Soil Carbon
13:30	Dr. Richard Sikora, Professor Emeritus, University of Bonn Impact of Soil Borne Pests and Diseases on Root Architecture: Biotic-Abiotic Interactions Impacting Food Security in Southern Africa
14:00	Dr. Brian Diers, Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, ACES, UIUC. Use of Genetic Diversity for Improving Resistance to Soybean Cyst Nematode in Soybean
14:30	Panel discussion led by Drs. Schroeder and Sikora
15:00	Break Location: Heritage Room
Session 4 (Photosynthesis) Chair: Dr. Tony Studer,* Assistant Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, ACES* Location: Monsanto Room
15:30	Dr. Johannes (Wanne) Kromdijk, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Dr. Steve Long’s Photosynthesis Lab, UIUC. Using the Interplay Between Photoprotection and Photosynthesis for New Crop Improvement Strategies
16:00	Dr. Xin-Guang Zhu, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology Model Guided Molecular Design to Support High Yield Rice Breeding
16:30	Dr. Lisa Ainsworth, USDA-ARS Photosynthesis Research Unit, Associate Professor of Plant Biology, UIUC The Role of Photosynthesis in Improving Maize Tolerance to Ozone Pollution
17:00	Wrap-up roundtable discussion—all topics (starting with photosynthesis)
18:00	End Program

Fifth Annual International Food Security Symposium

Food Security in the 21st Century: Envisioning R&D Strategies for Meeting the Demand