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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Genetic Engineering and Society Center
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181002T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181002T130000
DTSTAMP:20260426T145418
CREATED:20180821T142950Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20180928T142814Z
UID:10000128-1538481600-1538485200@ges.research.ncsu.edu
SUMMARY:Christopher Cummings - 'Vaccine Attitudes and Misperceptions'
DESCRIPTION:GES Colloquium | YouTube: LIVE STREAM \nCross-National Study: Vaccine Attitudes and Misperceptions\nSpeaker:\nChristopher L. Cummings\, Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication\, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information\, Nanyang Technological University\, Singapore (link) \nAbstract:\nVaccines are among the most effective disease prevention tools. Vaccines provide first-line disease prevention and are one of the most cost-effective initiatives to improve public health. While virtually all medical practitioners agree that vaccines are greatly beneficial\, there are widespread reports of uncertainty and skepticism regarding vaccine efficacy\, side effects\, and information needs across traditional and new media. This reflects the obfuscated perspective held by many members of the public who note considerable concern when it comes to making immunization decisions. Additionally\, immunization rates remain substandard for many diseases around the world and the literature investigating vaccine reluctance signals a pressing need to improve health literacies and health communication in order to dispel vaccine myths and promote immunization uptake around the world. \nThis presentation reviews new findings from a large cross-national study of Singaporean and American respondents which evaluates factors that influence individual’s perceptions of novel vaccines aimed to eradicate Dengue Fever\, Chikungunya\, Cholera\, and Bacterial Meningitis. Results show that different basic forms of traditional risk communication messaging may inadvertently promote anti-vaccine attitudes among the public\, and in some instances\, may allow for misperceptions that the vaccine itself causes people to become ill from the targeted disease. Findings support a nuanced understanding of how traditional risk communication rubrics may be inadequate in the modern era\, and provides guidance for practitioners about forms of communication likely to diminish the likelihood of public misperceptions. \nRelated: New Tool Can Help Policymakers Prioritize Information Needs for Synthetic Biology Tech \nBio:\nDr. Cummings\, an NC State alum (’13\, PhD Communication and Rhetoric)\, currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Strategic Communication at Nanyang Technological University\, Singapore. His research crosses several domains including science\, health\, environmental\, and risk communication (ComSHER)\, public understanding of science\, communication campaign design and evaluation\, and policy development for emerging technologies. Currently\, Dr. Cummings is investigating how experts and members of the public come to make sense of uncertain and complex risk and health issues while unpacking how different forms of communication play critical roles in influencing decision-making processes. His current grants aim to improve understanding of vaccine attitudes in Singapore and abroad\, and his most recent award titled “‘SynBio & Singapore’: convergent research cases to prioritize public engagement and promote policy-making” will promote dialogue and policy development relevant to Synthetic Biology applications including genetically engineered mosquitoes for disease control\, novel vaccine production methods for improved response during epidemics\, and engineered microbes for improved crop production.
URL:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/event/christopher-cummings-vaccine-attitudes/
LOCATION:1911 Building\, Room 129 (North Campus)\, 10 Current Dr.\, Raleigh\, NC\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
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ORGANIZER;CN="GES Center":MAILTO:gesocietycenter@ncsu.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181009T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181009T130000
DTSTAMP:20260426T145418
CREATED:20180821T142951Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181005T185732Z
UID:10000129-1539086400-1539090000@ges.research.ncsu.edu
SUMMARY:Shi Chen - 'Fake News: GMOs and Zika'
DESCRIPTION:GES Colloquium | YouTube: LIVE STREAM \nMisinformation regarding Zika and GMOs on Social Media\nSpeaker:\nShi Chen\, Assistant Professor\, Public Health Sciences\, UNC Charlotte (link) \nAbstract:\nSocial media has become an integral part of public health communication. More and more individuals first resort to social media for information during health crisis and disease outbreaks. While the low cost and easy access of social media make it more convenient for health communicators to disseminate useful information to the general public\, they also have the side effect of enabling wide and fast spread of fake health news. \nIt is critical to understand how fake health news spreads and competes with its real counterpart on social media. We track and compare the information flow dynamics of fake and real health news on Twitter using dynamic network analysis. The tweets\, retweets\, and comments about the 2016 Zika outbreak are chosen as the research target of this project. Specifically\, this project will identify the most popular Zika-related fake news (including those with GMOs) and real news published on Twitter during the year of 2016\, construct the information dissemination networks for each of these tweets\, compare structural differences between their information dissemination networks\, and identify and examine how key users with strategic positions in these networks contribute to the flow of fake and real news about Zika. \nBio:\nAn assistant professor of Health Informatics and Analytics at UNC Charlotte\, Dr. Chen’s research areas include data analysis and mathematical modeling of healthcare associated infections\, vector-borne diseases\, and online health information dissemination especially on social media. Some key concepts of Dr. Chen’s research in epidemiology and ecology include heterogeneity\, nonlinearity\, stochasticity\, and complexity. Dr. Chen has been collaborating with scholars in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to investigate how climate and socio-political factors influence nomadic livestock population dynamics in the past 40 years in Inner Mongolia\, China. Notably\, Dr. Chen holds two PhDs\, in both Entomology and Operations Research from Penn State University.
URL:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/event/shi-chen-fake-news-gmos-zika/
LOCATION:1911 Building\, Room 129 (North Campus)\, 10 Current Dr.\, Raleigh\, NC\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
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ORGANIZER;CN="GES Center":MAILTO:gesocietycenter@ncsu.edu
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181016T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181016T130000
DTSTAMP:20260426T145418
CREATED:20180821T142952Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181012T174847Z
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SUMMARY:Allan Hruska - Fall Armyworm: Towards Sustainable Management by Smallholders in Africa
DESCRIPTION:GES Colloquium | YouTube: LIVE STREAM \nFall Armyworm: Towards Sustainable Management by Smallholders in Africa\nSpeaker:\nAllan Hruska\, Principal Technical Coordinator – Fall Armyworm\, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (ResearchGate\, Google Scholar\, Twitter @allanhruska) \nAbstract:\nFall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) (FAW) is an important crop pest in the Americas\, especially in tropical and sub-tropical areas where it can overwinter. FAW was confirmed in Africa in early 2016 and has quickly spread across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Recently it has been confirmed in India and Yemen. It is now infesting tens of millions of acres of maize across Africa\, and rapidly moving on to sorghum and millets. \nIn the USA and South America\, FAW has been largely controlled with Bt-corn over the last 20 years. Corn farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa are largely smallholders – over 98% of Africa’s corn farmers grow small plots (typically less than two acres)\, often in multi-crop systems\, use saved seed\, use few inputs or machinery\, and use most of the harvest for family consumption. Less than 10% use pesticides in their corn crop. So most African corn farmers couldn’t afford high-technology management options. \nFAO has been working with smallholders\, their organizations\, and with support of many governments\, to help innovation of locally available\, sustainable management practices for FAW. Many of these practices have their basis in traditional cropping systems of Mesoamerica (plant diversity\, importance of natural enemies)\, as well as innovations discovered and tried by smallholder corn farmers around the world. The knowledge and practices used and being tried for sustainable FAW management by smallholders will be presented. \nRecommended Reading/Listening:\n\nFAO: Food Chain Crisis – Fall Armyworm\nFAW FAO’s Position on GM Maize\nHow to Manage FAW – Guidance\nFAW Pesticides Guidance\nAudio: FAW Allan Hruska 09 May 2018\n\nBio:\nAllan has dedicated his professional career to the support and promotion of sustainable family farming and food systems. Currently he is based in FAO’s Rome headquarters\, where he is Principal Technical Coordinator for Fall Armyworm. \nPreviously\, Allan lived and worked in Panama\, Chile\, Nicaragua\, Honduras and Costa Rica for over thirty years\, where he initiated and lead projects\, programs\, and institutions\, taught\, conducted research and provided technical and policy advice on crop protection and public health. \nBefore his career with FAO\, he was Head of the Crop Protection Department\, Zamorano University\, Honduras\, Executive Director\, NicaSalud\, Nicaragua\, Assistant Country Director for CARE Nicaragua\, and Professor at the National Agricultural University of Nicaragua. \nHe earned a PhD in entomology from North Carolina State University under Dr. Fred Gould\, an MSc in genetics from Duke University\, and a BS in biology from the University of Michigan. He is the author of over forty refereed publications\, book chapters\, reviews\, and technical guides.
URL:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/event/allan-hruska-gm-maize-and-fall-army-worm-in-africa/
LOCATION:1911 Building\, Room 129 (North Campus)\, 10 Current Dr.\, Raleigh\, NC\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
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ORGANIZER;CN="GES Center":MAILTO:gesocietycenter@ncsu.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181022T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181022T130000
DTSTAMP:20260426T145418
CREATED:20181019T174437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181019T174437Z
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SUMMARY:Jennifer Kuzma - Oxitec’s Mosquito and Future Gene Drives (at Duke University)
DESCRIPTION:Duke University Civil & Environmental Engineering | Fall 2018 Seminar Series \nOxitec’s Mosquito and Future Gene Drives:  \nChallenges with Risk Analysis and Governance\nAbstract:\nIn this presentation\, I will discuss the current risk assessment and oversight challenges using the case of an engineered mosquito designed to kill its wild population and reduce disease transmission. These mosquitos give us a window into the complexities associated with risk analysis for future organisms released with gene drives. Gene drives are designed to spread genes throughout wild populations\, and we are finding that current risk assessment and governance approaches are challenged by this technology. After reviewing the mosquito case\, I will talk more generally about how we can adapt existing risk assessment frameworks for organisms containing gene drives to better account for the complexities\, uncertainties\, and policy and public contexts. With the emergence of these GMOs designed to spread in ecosystems\, it will become increasingly important for regulatory agencies and technology developers to bolster their risk analysis methods and processes prior to field testing. I will end with a new principle-based framework\, Procedurally-Robust Risk Analysis Framework (PRRAF)\, as a flexible guide for doing so within a variety of legal\, regulatory\, and governance contexts. \nCONTACT\nRuby Nell Carpenter\, 919-660-5200\, rubync@duke.edu \nDirections and Parking
URL:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/event/kuzma-oxitec-mosquito-future-gene-drives-at-duke/
LOCATION:Duke Fitzpatrick Center\, 135 Science Drive\, Durham\, NC\, 27705\, United States
CATEGORIES:Presentations
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Kuzma-Gene-Drive-Risk-Governance-Duke-Seminar-10.22.18.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Ruby Nell Carpenter":MAILTO:rubync@duke.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181023T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181023T130000
DTSTAMP:20260426T145418
CREATED:20180821T142953Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20181020T225252Z
UID:10000027-1540296000-1540299600@ges.research.ncsu.edu
SUMMARY:Fred Gould - Introducing AgBioFEWS
DESCRIPTION:GES Colloquium | YouTube: LIVE STREAM \nAgBioFEWS research training grant discussion\nSpeaker:\nFred Gould\, GES Center Co-director and University Distinguished Professor\, Entomology\, NC State \nAbstract:\nThe GES Center has received a National Science Foundation funded research training grant to launch AgBioFEWS\, or Agricultural Biotechnology in our Evolving Food\, Energy\, and Water Systems. \nThis program offers 2 years of fellowship funding and professional development opportunities for students to conduct interdisciplinary science examining any aspect of how existing and future agricultural biotechnologies may interact with food\, energy and water systems\, at local\, regional\, and global scales. Fred will be discussing the program activities\, goals\, and rollout plan. \nNote: This colloquium will not be live-streamed\, although we will be filming to include footage in the program’s recruitment video. We kindly ask that attendees this week avoid wearing clothing with large logos or potentially distracting graphics. Thank you! \nSee also:\n\nAgBioFEWS site\nPress Release
URL:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/event/fred-gould-agbiofews/
LOCATION:1911 Building\, Room 129 (North Campus)\, 10 Current Dr.\, Raleigh\, NC\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/10-23-18-colloquium-AgBioFEWS-simple-card.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="GES Center":MAILTO:gesocietycenter@ncsu.edu
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20181030T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20181030T130000
DTSTAMP:20260426T145418
CREATED:20180821T142957Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20190103T163250Z
UID:10000028-1540900800-1540904400@ges.research.ncsu.edu
SUMMARY:Kelly Nelson - Biofuels Policy and Innovation Spillovers: Evidence from Patent Indicators
DESCRIPTION:GES Colloquium | YouTube: LIVE STREAM\nBiofuels Policy and Innovation Spillovers: Evidence from Patent Indicators\nSpeaker:\nKelly Nelson\, PhD Candidate\, Agricultural and Resource Economics (CV)\nAbstract:\nIn the late 1990s and early 2000s\, governments implemented policies stimulating the use ethanol and biodiesel to reduce carbon emissions and encourage domestic energy production. Blend mandates\, requirements that gasoline or diesel sold contain a minimum percentage of these biofuels\, were the most common form of policy. A recent meta-analysis by Hochman and Zilberman (2018) on United States ethanol blend mandates found them successful in lowering emissions and imports of fossil fuels. A theoretical study by Clancy and Moschini (2017) concluded that\, if innovation were stimulated by mandates\, then the socially optimal mandate percentage is higher than if innovation is not possible.\n\nWe test the impact of blend mandates and other biofuels policies on innovation using bibliometric patent indicators that correspond with research effort and research output. We also consider the impact on R&D directed toward plant biotechnology. Our analysis shows that ethanol mandates significantly increased both R&D effort and quality-weighted innovation output in biofuels while reducing the R&D inputs to plant patenting. This suggests that biofuels innovation increased in response to the mandates but that firms substituted R&D effort toward biofuels and away from plant technologies. However\, output of plant innovation did not change in response to the ethanol mandates\, supporting the presence of a spillover effect between biofuels innovation and plant innovation. Biodiesel blend mandates did not have significant impact on R&D efforts in any category. Policies other than mandates had inconsistent effects\, ranging from limited increases in R&D activity to significant decreases in innovation.\nBio:\nKelly Nelson’s research focuses on the determinants of innovation in the biotechnology and energy sectors. He has studied the impact of biofuels policies on patenting in the biofuels and plant biotechnology fields. Another project focuses on the impact of nuclear power accidents on nuclear energy research and development. He is also investigating the impact of grain market concentration on the variety of research done by agricultural biotechnology firms.\n\nKelly holds an MS in global affairs from New York University and a BA in history from the University of Maryland\, College Park.
URL:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/event/kelly-nelson-biofuels/
LOCATION:1911 Building\, Room 129 (North Campus)\, 10 Current Dr.\, Raleigh\, NC\, United States
CATEGORIES:Colloquium
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://ges.research.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/10-30-18-colloquium-nelson-simple-card.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="GES Center":MAILTO:gesocietycenter@ncsu.edu
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