b'RESEARCH ROOTS RUN DEEPAs lead for roots-soil-microbiome research at the University of Saskatchewan, Leon Kochian is getting recognized for helping bolster global food security.AS LEAD FORthe roots-soil-microbiome research area at the University of Saskatchewan Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS), Leon Kochians work focuses on improving crop yields by understanding the interactions between roots, the soil they live in, and the micro-organisms in the soil.His goal is to breed crops with healthier, more effi-cient root systems that can grow successfully in less fertile soilsit is work that has led to him be recognized with the 2019 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award for global excellence in food innovation.This award recognizes the kind of scientific excel-lence that is needed more than ever to overcome the daunting global challenge of feeding 9.7-billion people by 2050, said Karen Chad, USask vice-president research.Leon Kochian is the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Global Food With Leon Kochians research pre-eminence andSecurity and associate director, Global Institute for Food Security at the leadership, supported by the Global Institute for FoodUniversity of Saskatchewan. Photo courtesy USaskSecurity and our dynamic food security research cluster, we are poised to provide transformative and sustainablesolve the challenge of feeding a growing world, said research solutions to help feed a growing world. Kochian. I appreciate this award from the Arrell Food Kochian, associate director of the GIFS and a fac- Institute and recognize the support and contributions of ulty member in the USask plant sciences and soil sci- my colleagues to this work.ence departments of the College of Agriculture andOne of the worlds most highly-cited scientific Bioresources, is internationally recognized for cutting- researchers, Kochian has been elected to the Agricultural edge plant root systems research that aims to improveResearch Service Hall of Fame and was included on the crop yields.Thomson Reuters 2018 list of the Worlds Most Influential He joined USask in 2016 from Cornell University andScientific Research Minds.the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lead the USask CERCDr. Kochian is the kind of scientific innovator the program aimed at improving global food production. world needs to meet the great challenges of the 21st cen-Kochians team uses the Canadian Light Source, atury to ensure a safe, sustainable and healthy system for national research facility of USask, and other state-of-the- everyone, said Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food art imaging tools, along with the latest computer tech- Institute. We hope his leadership in the research space nology, to digitize desired crop traits and link them toinspires many others to take on these food security prob-specific genes in a searchable database. This innovativelems.approach enables tailored design and breeding of rootThe award ceremony will be held Dec. 3, 2019, at the systems to specific agro-environments for crops includingArrell Food Summit in Toronto. Kochian will be featured wheat, barley, lentils and canola. on a panel discussing strategies needed to develop food Saskatchewan is attracting global attention in foodsystems to feed the worlds growing population in a sus-security research at its world-class institutes, helping totainable, healthy and equitable way. Source: USask NOVEMBER 2019GERMINATION.CA 21'