The Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable convened a day-long workshop for its membership and invited guests to discuss opportunities for supporting research and innovation to address agricultural and human health challenges associated with feeding the future. The workshop identified areas within the subject where cross-sector collaboration, partnership, and interdisciplinary research is necessary.

Topics for discussion at the workshop included the intersection of food access, nutritional security, and health equity; the impacts of agriculture on climate change and the changing climate's impact on agricultural productivity; the future of food production and sustainable land use management; and opportunities and challenges for curbing and preventing food loss and waste. Central to the discussion was the role of partnerships to enable alignment and collaboration across sectors.

This meeting was for GUIRR members and invited guests.

Discussions and Speakers

Opening remarks (9:00-9:25am ET)
Al Grasso, GUIRR Industry Co-Chair and Past President of the MITRE Corporation
Laurie Leshin, GUIRR University Co-Chair and President of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Mehmood Khan, GUIRR Council Member and CEO of the Hevolution Foundation

Panel I - Food Access and Nutritional Security (9:25-10:40am ET)
Ahmed Kablan, Senior Science Advisor, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security at the U.S. Agency for International Development
Lynn Brown, Director of Alliances and Policy at HarvestPlus
Dwane Jones, Dean of the College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability, and Environmental Science and Land-grant Programs at the University of the District of Columbia
Jamal Yagoobi, Professor and Department Head for Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Panel II - Food, Agriculture, and Climate Change (11:00am-12:15pm ET)
Lew Ziska, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia University
Phil Taylor, Open Innovation Lead at Bayer Crop Science

Lunch Discussion (12:15-1:15pm ET)
Roy Steiner, Senior Vice President for the Food Initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation

Panel III - The Future of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production (1:15-2:45pm ET)
Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Administrator of the Agriculture Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Sally Rockey, Executive Director of the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research
Gregory Belt, CEO of Evergrain
Ignacio Martinez, General Partner at Flagship Pioneering

Panel IV - Curbing and Preventing Food Loss and Waste (3:15-4:30pm ET)
Shannon Kenny, Senior Advisor in the Office of Research and Development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Roni Neff, Co-Director of RECIPES and Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins
James Kanoff, Co-Founder and CEO of the Farmlink Project

Networking Reception, Keck Atrium (4:30-6:00pm ET)