As the pressure on from extreme weather mounts, including drought and heat, and wet and soggy conditions, plant breeders are looking closer at what traits crops need to survive and grow. Climate change is making headlines daily and many point at agriculture as a cause. The reality is, consumers need agriculture to survive and there is much the industry is doing to adapt and be sustainable as the world changes, including with the seed from which crops grow.
This week on Seed Speaks Host Ashley Robinson is joined by a panel of experts to take a deep dive into how agriculture, specifically seed, is rising to the challenge of a changing climate.
Panelists include:
- Maryse Bourgault, assistant professor and the WGRF chair in integrated agronomy in a joint appointment between the Departments of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan — Prior to returning to Canada in March 2020, she was an assistant professor at the Northern Agricultural Research Center at Montana State University (MSU) in cropping systems and agronomy. She also spent nine years in Australia working mostly in climate change related research. She also worked as an extension agronomist while living in Queensland. As a crop physiologist by training (PhD awarded from McGill University in 2009), Bourgault uses agronomic research, crop physiology methodologies and modelling to investigate questions of sustainability and resilience in semi-arid cropping systems.
- Kerran Clements, North American breeding, product development lead, canola for Bayer Canada — Clements and his family moved to Canada 11 years ago from New Zealand, and now live in Edmonton, Alta. He has worked for Bayer for the past seven years, starting off in market development, then moving to the climate corporation where he helped launch the FieldView business, and most recently the North American breeding team as North American breeding product development lead, canola. Clements has his bachelor of science in plant biology from Massey University and when he is not focused one bringing new technologies to Canadian agriculture, his family and him love spending time in the mountains and exploring Canada.
- Charlie Campbell, growth and BizOps lead with ClimateAI — Campbell works on the growth team at ClimateAI. Previously, he spent more than three years building and operating Oregon commercial nurseries in China from zero to 800 plus acres and has a background in venture capital and business development focused on enterprise software. Charlie holds a master of business administration from Chicago Booth and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in economics from the University of Oregon.
Tune in at 12:00 CDT Wednesday to hear the full story:
Check out recent episodes of Seed Speaks here:
Why Changing the Face of our Industry can Bolster Public Trust
Can the Public Trust the Science Behind Seed Treatments?
Flipping the Thinking on Going “Green” in Ag
Why do GMOs Have an Image Problem? Watch This Week’s Episode
