Media Advisory: CSU’s Ag Innovation Summit to be held Dec. 5-6

Colorado State University’s Ag Innovation Summit will be held on campus this week, focusing on the theme, “Building the Innovation Mindset.”

Where/When

The Summit will be held Dec. 5 and 6 at the Lory Student Center on the CSU campus. A full schedule of events and speakers can be found at http://csuaginnovationsummit.colostate.edu/program/.

Details

The event features two keynote speakers: Saswati Bora, head of food systems innovation for the World Economic Forum, and Robb Fraley, former executive vice president and chief technology officer for Monsanto Company.

As the head of food systems innovation at the World Economic Forum, Bora leads a global initiative to leverage technology and innovations to address food systems challenges. In that capacity, she is also responsible for content development, partnership facilitation and program development on food systems transformation. Speaking at the summit on Thursday, Bora will address global forces—including macroeconomic, environmental, political, social, technological and financial—that are demanding a relentless focus on innovation in agriculture.

Fraley, who speaks on Friday, led a team of agricultural scientists at Monsanto that were dedicated to developing seeds and solutions that help farmers around the world yield a more abundant, affordable, and sustainable food supply. His keynote will focus on the importance of disruptive thinking and technologies as it relates to a successful future for global agriculture.

Additionally, a wealth of panels featuring a diverse range of people, perspectives and experiences fill out this year’s summit. Highlights include:

  • Polly Ruhland of the United Soybean Board, a CSU alumna, who will discuss the opportunity of using agriculture as a teaching tool to expose more kids to STEM;
  • Quentin Tyler, the associate dean and director for diversity, equity and inclusion at Michigan State University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, will join a panel on leveraging diversity as a catalyst for innovation;
  • Florian Schattenmann, vice president for research and development at Cargill, will join a leadership roundtable on the defining principles of perennial innovators;
  • Candace Laing, vice president of sustainability and stakeholder relations at Nutrien, will be featured on the final industry panel and will explore innovation for resilient food systems.

For more information, visit http://csuaginnovationsummit.colostate.edu/.

Sesquicentennial Colloquium Series

As Colorado State University celebrates its 150th anniversary, the 2019 Ag Innovation Summit is officially part of the university’s Sesquicentennial Colloquium Series. This will be the fourth installment in the series.

Media contact

Jennifer Dimas at jennifer.dimas@colostate.edu or (970) 491-1543.