Left to right: Rachel Goldstein, Alison L. Van Eenennaam and Lee R. Dehaan

Conference to focus on food security issues

Scientists, policy makers and the general public will gather at Eckerd College this month for the two-day Eckerd College Food Security Conference to discuss GMOs, growing grains for food not biofuels and how to feed a global population that will double in the next 35 years.

The aim of the April 24-25 conference is to help shape public policy about food that is grounded in science. 

The conference, to be held in the round at Wireman Chapel, will be divided into two distinct parts. The first day will be devoted to presentations by three internationally recognized experts, who will then be questioned by a panel of fellow scientists, academics, policy makers and students. The audience will participate through written questions. The second day will be devoted to small-group sessions involving panelists and audience members to draft ways policy makers can turn ideas into action.

Presenters will be Rachel Goldstein, global sustainability manager for Mars Inc.; Alison L. Van Eenennaam, cooperative extension specialist in animal genomics and biotechnology at the University of California, Davis; and Lee R. Dehaan, plant geneticist at the Land Institute in Salina, Kan.  

Summaries of the ideas, debates and papers will be compiled by Eckerd students and presented to policy makers. The conference is free and open to the public, but registration is required along with participation both days. Read more, view the schedule and register here.

This is a busy time of year at Eckerd. Not only are students heading into the final weeks of the Spring Semester; admitted students are flocking to our beautiful waterfront campus in droves for Explore Eckerd. We had 135 admitted students on campus this past Sunday, March 29, and Monday, March 30. Including students' family members, 340 people roamed the campus, spending time with Eckerd students and professors, exploring the Waterfront and South Beach, and generally learning more about Eckerd while having fun. At the Waterfront (above), students danced, played games and enjoyed a bonfire. A good time was had by all, and many of the admitted students are expected to join us for Autumn Term in August. Two more Explore Eckerd weekends are planned: April 12-13 and April 19-20. 

A community forum on the future of U.S. travel and trade with Cuba, organized by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, was held at the Tampa International Airport Marriott on Monday, March 30, where attendees heard from Economics Professor Peter Hammerschmidt about the recent Winter Term trip there. Hammerschmidt (photo, second from left) discussed Cuba's thriving underground economy, the growing private sector and the lure of tourist jobs for even the best-educated Cubans. He suggested some advice for business leaders looking for economic opportunities in Cuba, repeating what became the motto of the two-week trip for the 18 students who studied Cuba: "Everything is possible but nothing is guaranteed." Read more about the trip in this Tampa Bay Times Perspective piece.