Advancing Agriculture
With a background in journalism and a passion for agricultural development, NC State doctoral student Joseph Gakpo hopes to leverage his education to make a difference in his native Ghana....
Blog: “To the USDA, and Beyond!”: The Intersection of Governance and Biotechnology Innovation
Christopher J. Gillespie | Recently, on National Agriculture Day, Dr. Jennifer Rowland, the Biotechnology Coordinator at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), gave a talk at the GES Colloquium that left a “big footprint”....
Blog: Grappling with complexities of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe
Eric Butoto | Embarking on a three-month journey with CIMMYT in Zimbabwe, I delved into the heart of smallholder agriculture, witnessing firsthand the challenges, innovations, and unwavering resilience of farmers, offering a glimpse into their lives and the quest for food security in a changing climate....Continue reading "Blog: Grappling with complexities of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe"
Blog: Science Ideology and Policy: Eugenics in the South
Ruthie Stokes | In the annals of history, the American South has been marked by a complex tapestry of culture, tradition, and struggle. Yet, amidst the backdrop of rural landscapes and Jim Crow laws, there lurked a shadowy chapter: the era of eugenics....Continue reading "Blog: Science Ideology and Policy: Eugenics in the South"
Blog: Saving Our Seeds, Changing Our Perspective
Asa Budnick | The act of saving a seed holds varied meanings, from my perspective as a molecular biologist, refrigerating seeds for experiments, to the broader perspectives of farmers, breeders, and nations, reflecting the diverse value and conservation methods of seeds, as explored in Dr. Helen Anne Curry’s discussion on seed conservation history and its intersections with scientific, imperialistic, and agricultural narratives....Continue reading "Blog: Saving Our Seeds, Changing Our Perspective"
Blog: Bringing in Indigenous Perspectives on Synthetic Biology for Conservation
Jill Furgurson | Dr. Kirsty Wissing's colloquium presentation highlighted the essential role of Indigenous participation in shaping conservation agendas, advocating for approaches that honor traditional ecological knowledge....Continue reading "Blog: Bringing in Indigenous Perspectives on Synthetic Biology for Conservation"
Blog: Key Ecological Perspectives: Tracing the Evolution of GMO Oversight with Dr. David Andow
Nick Loschin | Dr. David Andow provided his insights and expertise on ecological and evolutionary perspectives related to genetic engineering through key events from the 1980s to the early 2000s...
Preventing the Next Plant Plague
NC State's Jean Ristaino will write a book on her Irish Potato Famine research and work to prevent future plant disease outbreaks while in Dublin as a Fulbright scholar....
NC State Named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution
NC State has been recognized as one of the universities with the highest number of students, faculty and administrators selected for both the U.S. Fulbright Student and Scholar Programs, including three GES faculty members and an AgBioFEWS Fellow in 2023–24....Continue reading "NC State Named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution"
Blog: Remembering 20th Century Eugenics in North Carolina
Nolan Speicher | In a recent GES colloquium, PhD student Grace Wiedrich shared archival research that invites audiences to reflect on the eugenics movement and its intersections with our local history....Continue reading "Blog: Remembering 20th Century Eugenics in North Carolina"
Envisioning a More Equitable Food System
Doctoral candidate and AgBioFEWS Fellow Christopher Gillespie seeks a stronger, more racially equitable food system, and at NC State, he’s taking steps to achieve that....
Starting Strong
The first small companies to join the startup program are pursuing diverse products aimed at solving different agricultural problems. For example, Eli Hornstein, who holds a Ph.D. from NC State in plant metabolic engineering, has started Elysia Creative Biology to help slow climate change by producing bioengineered crops that can be turned into feed that reduces the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas, from cows....
NSF News: Is our phosphorus use sustainable?
A U.S. National Science Foundation-supported study finds that most phosphorus stakeholders — representing a wide swath of industry, agriculture, environmental and policy interests — have significant doubts about the long-term sustainability of existing phosphorus management systems....Continue reading "NSF News: Is our phosphorus use sustainable?"
Blog: The Challenges of GMO Detection and Traceability in a Globalized Food System
By Joseph Opoku Gakpo and Modesta Abugu | The traceability and detection of biotech foods in a globalized system remain crucial, and while detection methods have improved, many challenges remain, especially for products of new genomic methods like CRISPR....
Blog: Impressions from the field: biotechnology, scale, and change
By Asa Budnick and Jill Furgurson | Over the summer of 2022, the last cohort of AgBioFEWS graduate students conducted field research in eastern North Carolina, gaining insights into the intersection of biotechnology, farm size, and environmental shifts on farmers....Continue reading "Blog: Impressions from the field: biotechnology, scale, and change"