Dr Nina Fedoroff to give public lecture in Auckland

Auckland, New Zealand. 22 January 2010…Dr Nina Fedoroff, molecular biologist and Science and Technology Advisor to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, will give a public lecture entitled ‘Rethinking agriculture in a changing climate' in Auckland on 27 January 2010.

The global population is expected to increase by another 3 billion by mid-21st century. The amount of arable land had changed relatively little over the past half century and isn't likely to increase much in the future. Water scarcity is already a critical concern in parts of the world and climate change is already impacting agriculture.

Dr Fedoroff's lecture will address the gains that can be made in the short run by bringing up-to-date agronomic and food science technology and know-how to more people. In addition, she will discuss how future gains will require increasing productivity on land already farmed, while decreasing the environmental impact of agriculture. She will also discuss how this will require progress in the acceptance of molecular genetic modification of plants and may well require the development of new types of farming systems, particularly in arid regions.

Dr Fedoroff is Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and Willaman Professor of Life Science at Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on the molecular biology of plant genes, particularly the response of plants to stressful environments. In 2007, Dr Fedoroff was appointed as Science and Technology Adviser to then US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, a position she still holds for the current Secretary, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Dr Fedoroff is in New Zealand for the New Zealand-US Joint Commission Meeting, hosted by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Her public lecture in Auckland is co-hosted by The University of Auckland's Faculty of Science and Plant & Food Research.

Title: Rethinking agriculture in a changing climate

Date: Wednesday, 27 January 2010

Time: 3.00pm

Venue: University of Auckland Conference Centre, 22 Symonds St

ENDS