Dr. Steve Long, a well-known plant ecologist and physiologist, will be visiting UNL and will give a talk on food security and sustainability in the face of climate change and population growth.
The seminar, “Photosynthesis: The final frontier in improvement of crop yield potential and sustainability?”, will be at 2 p.m. Oct. 5, at the East Campus Union. A reception will follow from 3 to 4 p.m.
Long is a Gutgesell endowed professor at University of Illinois and a distinguished professor of environmental science at University of Lancaster, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Demand for our major crops is expected to rise 70 percent to 100 percent by 2050. In reality, we have little more than one crop breeding cycle in which to insure against this emerging short-fall. Theoretical analysis and in silico engineering have suggested a number of points where efficiency of light, nitrogen and water use could be improved. It will be shown that this is particularly so in the context of global atmospheric change.
Genetic transformation have begun to validate some of these suggested improvements. Synthetic and systems approaches being used will be outlined and successes described. A perspective on new approaches to achieving improved water use efficiency will also be presented.
Bio:
Steve Long’s research on photosynthesis spans from molecular and in silico design to field analysis of performance. At Illinois, he led the development of the SoyFACE facility. He co-led creation of the $350M Berkeley-Illinois-BP Energy Biosciences Institute, and served as Director of the Illinois section for 5 years. He is currently directing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation international project on Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency(RIPE). He was listed by ISI as one of the Most Highly Cited Authors of 2015 and by Reuters as one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds of 2015.” He is Founding and Chief Editor of “Global Change Biology”. He is Chair of the Royal Society Section on Organismal Biology, Ecology and Evolution. He has given invited presentations on bioenergy, climate change impacts and food security to the President at the White House, to the Vatican and to Bill Gates.
For more information, contact Tala Awada at 402-472-7088 or tawada@unl.edu.
-- Natural Resources
More details at: http://snr.unl.edu