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Global Challenges and Directions for Agricultural Biotechnology: Workshop Report (2008)

Chapter: Appendix A: Steering Committee Biosketches

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Steering Committee Biosketches." National Research Council. 2008. Global Challenges and Directions for Agricultural Biotechnology: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12216.
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Page 51
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Steering Committee Biosketches." National Research Council. 2008. Global Challenges and Directions for Agricultural Biotechnology: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12216.
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Page 52
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Steering Committee Biosketches." National Research Council. 2008. Global Challenges and Directions for Agricultural Biotechnology: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12216.
×
Page 53
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Steering Committee Biosketches." National Research Council. 2008. Global Challenges and Directions for Agricultural Biotechnology: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12216.
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Page 54

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Appendix A Steering Committee Biosketches Calestous Juma, Chair, is professor of the practice of international develop- ment and director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and ­McCluskey Fellow at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental S ­ tudies. He is a former executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and founding director of the African Centre for Tech- nology Studies in Nairobi, and he served as chancellor of the University of Guyana. Dr. Juma cochaired the African High-Level Panel on ­Modern Biotechnology of the African Union and serves as a special adviser to the International Whaling Commission. He is lead author of Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development and Freedom to Innovate: Biotechnology in Africa’s Development. He has been elected to several scientific academies, including the Royal Society of London, the U.S. National Academy of Sci- ences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, and the African Academy of Sciences. He holds a DPhil in science and technology policy studies and has received numerous international awards and honorary degrees for his work on sustainable development. He is the editor of the International Journal of Technology and Globalisation and the International Journal of Biotechnology. Edward (Ned) Groth III is retired as senior scientist at Consumers Union (CU). His responsibilities included directing major science-policy ­projects on U.S. pesticide regulation and international food safety standard-­setting. Dr. Groth formerly directed the Public Service Projects Department in 51

52 APPENDIX A CU’s Technical Division. In that capacity, he oversaw evaluations of the health and environmental implications of products; coordinated technical input on food safety, risk communication, and related topics to the editors of Consumer Reports and other CU publications; and coordinated technical support of advocacy work on a similar array of issues. He is coauthor of the book Pest Management at the Crossroads (Consumers Union, 1996) and several more recent technical reports analyzing risks associated with pesti- cide residues in foods. Test projects he has directed in recent years include investigations of plastic components that migrate from food containers into foods and a national survey of lead concentrations in drinking-water supplies. Dr. Groth has been a member of the Food Forum of the National Academy of Sciences, of an Environmental Protection Agency advisory committee on managing multiple exposures to lead, of the Steering Com- mittee of the Children’s Environmental Health Network, and of a Joint Food and Agriculture Organization–World Health Organization Expert Consultation on Risk Communication in Food Safety. He holds an AB in biology from Princeton University (1966) and a PhD in biological sciences from Stanford University (1973). Richard R. Harwood has been the C.S. Mott Chair of Sustainable Agricul- ture at Michigan State University since 1990. Dr. Harwood’s recent work has focused on research, extension, and teaching in production ecology as a foundation for sustainable agriculture. His work on the biogeochemis- try of soil carbon and nitrogen has been widely published. He serves on the Interim Science Council of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research and has served on the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. Dr. Harwood was trained in horticultural genetics and plant breeding and has degrees from Cornell University and Michigan State University. He worked as a plant breeder and production agrono- mist with the Rockefeller Foundation in Asia from 1967 to 1976. He was director of the Rodale Research Center in organic agriculture from 1977 until 1985, when he became director of Asian programs with Winrock International. Luis Herrera-Estrella is director of the Plant Biology Unit at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the National Polytechnic Insti- tute in Irapuato, Mexico. His expertise is in plant molecular biology. His recent research has addressed the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate root development in response to nutrient availability and the physiology and genetics of the Arabidopsis response to phosphate avail- ability. Dr. Herrera-Estrella has received numerous awards for his work, including the Javed Husain Award from the UN Educational, Scientific,

APPENDIX A 53 and Cultural Organization in 1987, the Award in Biology from the Third World Academy of Sciences in 1994, the RedBio Medal from the Latin American Biotechnology Network in 1998, and the WIPO Medal from the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2000. He recently developed a technology to produce aluminum-resistant transgenic plants based on the modification of the production of organic acids. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in internationally recognized journals. Dr. Herrera- Estrella was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2003. Barbara A. Schaal is a professor of biology and genetics in the Depart- ment of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1999 for her investigations in the evolution of plant populations. Her work on the application of DNA analysis to plant evolution at the population level showed an unexpect- edly high level of diversity due to limited gene migration. Her research includes the use of gene genealogies and coalescence theory to detect geographic patterns of gene migration between populations of North American native plants. She also conducts studies on species relationships in plants native to South America, Africa, and Asia and on issues related to the conservation of rare plants. Her current work examines gene flow and genetic diversity in wild and cultivated Asian rice. Dr. Schaal chaired Washington University’s Department of Biology from 1993 to 1997 and has been chair of the Scientific Advisory Council for the Center for Plant Conservation, president of the Society for the Study of Evolution, associ- ate editor of Molecular Biology and Evolution, and president of the Botanical Society of America. She received her PhD in population biology from Yale University in 1974. Greg Traxler is a professor in the Department of Agricultural ­Economics and Rural Sociology at Auburn University. He has expertise in the eco- nomics of biotechnology innovation. His research interests include the process and effects of agricultural research, the economics of intellec- tual-property rights, the distribution of benefits of biotechnology innova- tion, and the coordination of public-sector and private-sector agricultural research. Dr. Traxler has published papers on the economics of biotech- nology innovation in poor nations, including genetically engineered soy- beans in Argentina and transgenic cotton in Mexico, and on the valuation of pre-commercial germplasm. He also has presented before National Research Council committees on such topics as pesticide use in Bt cotton, economic incentives in genetic improvement research, and the economic context of agricultural biotechnology in developing countries. Dr. Traxler holds a PhD in agricultural economics from Iowa State University.

54 APPENDIX A José A. Zaglul is president of EARTH University in San José, Costa Rica. He has expertise in international agricultural research and education. Since 1989, Dr. Zaglul has presided over EARTH University, a private, international nonprofit university dedicated to the conservation and sus- tainable development of the humid tropics. Previously, he served as head of the Animal Production Department of the Centro Agrícola Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Costa Rica. Dr. Zaglul was professor of food science and then vice president of research and exten- sion of the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR). Dr. Zaglul has extensive knowledge of international conflict resolution and participated in a conference organized by Georgetown University on conflict resolu- tion at the Mediterranean Agricultural Institute of Chania, Greece, in 2002. His professional interests include the sustainable management of natural resources and its relationship to food production. Dr. Zaglul has presented numerous publications and papers and participates in numer- ous professional conferences annually, such as the Global Consortium for Higher Education and Research in Agriculture’s 2003 annual meeting, for which he serves as president-elect. He earned a PhD in meat and muscle biology from the University of Florida.

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Many developing countries are exploring whether biotechnology has a role in addressing national issues such as food security and environmental remediation, and are considering whether the putative benefits of the technology-for example, enabling greater agricultural productivity and stability in the food supply-outweigh concerns that the technology might pose a danger-to biodiversity, health, and local jobs. Some policy leaders worry that their governments are not prepared to take control of this evolving technology and that introducing it into society would be a risky act. Others have suggested that taking no action carries more risk, given the dire need to produce more food. This book reports on an international workshop held to address these issues. Global Challenges and Directions for Agricultural Biotechnology: Mapping the Course, organized by the National Research Council on October 24-25, 2004, in Washington, DC, focused on the potential applications of biotechnology and what developing countries might consider as they contemplate adopting biotechnology. Presenters at the workshop described applications of biotechnology that are already proving their utility in both developing and developed countries.

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