GES public Lecture Series
Hunger & Hypocrisy:
A Climate for GMO Change
Special Guest: Dr. Sarah Evanega
Director of the Cornell Alliance for Science and Sr. Assoc. Director, International Programs, CALS
FREE Event: MONDAY, November 13, 2017 | 7:00 – 8:30 PM
Stephens Room (NCSU), 3503 Thomas Hall, Raleigh, NC 27607
Free parking on campus after 5pm
ABSTRACT:
The world currently faces the great challenge of feeding a growing population while simultaneously minimizing agriculture’s negative impact on global climate change. In this talk I will share examples of how the tools of agricultural biotechnology are being employed to help address this and associated urgent challenges.
We will explore how access to biotechnologies addresses injustices to the poor and other social problems in countries like Bangladesh. We will also discuss how applications of biotechnology may help lessen agriculture’s carbon emissions and other deleterious environmental impacts. Finally, we will explore how denying GMO science challenges a liberal worldview and obfuscates shared values around achieving justice for the poor, and address the critical need to defend evidence-based science in a time of unprecedented urgency.
Note that Dr. Evanega will also be speaking at the GES Colloquium the following day, 11/14/17, on ‘Empowering Champions, Embracing Advocacy: The Cornell Alliance for Science‘
About | Sarah Evanega, PhD
Sarah received her PhD in the field of Plant Biology from Cornell University in 2009, for which she conducted an interdisciplinary study combining work in plant molecular biology with science communication. Her dissertation focused on the controversy over genetically engineered papaya in developing countries with a specific focus on Thailand. She came to Cornell after completing a BA in Biology at Reed College. Lured by great weather, plenty of water, and an unbeatable intellectual environment, she remained at Cornell University after completing her PhD to help lead a global project to help protect the world’s wheat from wheat stem rust.
Sarah now serves as the Director for the Cornell Alliance for Science—a global communications effort that promotes evidence-based decision-making in agriculture. She teaches courses on agricultural biotechnology at the graduate and undergraduate level and is part of an interdisciplinary team that recently launched a massive open online course (MOOC) on the Science and Politics of GMOs on Cornell’s EdX platform. Sarah serves as Senior Associate Director of International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and holds an adjunct appointment in the Section of Plant Breeding & Genetics in the Integrative School of Plant Sciences at Cornell. Sarah was instrumental in launching the CALS initiative, AWARE (Advancing Women in Agriculture through Research and Education) which promotes women in agriculture. Sarah grew up in a small agricultural village in northwest Illinois and enjoys life in the Finger Lakes with her husband and three young children.