December 9, 2021: IRES Faculty Seminar with John Reganold (Last Seminar for Term 1)


IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

View video.

*********************************************************************************

Addressing Agricultural Sustainability

Abstract:  

Agriculture is at a critical juncture. While trying to provide calories for 7.9 billion people, agriculture is a major contributor to global greenhouse gases, biodiversity loss, nutrient pollution, land clearing, soil degradation, and public health problems. Concerns about the long-term sustainability of agriculture have promoted interest in alternative, more diversified farming systems, such as organic, agroforestry, and regenerative agriculture, compared to mainstream conventional systems. These alternative farming systems are better at contributing to multiple sustainability goals but are expanding too slowly to be transformational. Incentives for appropriate markets, reform of farm-related policies, and reorientation of publicly funded agricultural science are needed to hasten farmers adopting these more sustainable farming systems. Additionally, consumers play a vital role in the foods they choose to eat.

John Reganold

Visiting Professor, IRES

Bio:

Dr. John Reganold has shaped his career by his interest in soil science and agriculture, receiving his Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of California at Davis. He is currently Regents Professor of Soil Science and Agroecology at Washington State University. He has spent 30-plus years bringing a blend of innovative teaching and research on soil quality and sustainable farming systems into the mainstream of higher education and food production. He has had the privilege of teaching more than 4000 students in the classroom. He has published extensively in scientific journals, magazines, and books, including ScienceNature, and Scientific American.

Dr. Reganold is an International Visiting Research Scholar supported by the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies at UBC.

IRES Visiting Professor Term: August 2021 – December 2021.