Contacts:
Helen Jensen; hhjensen@iastate.edu

June 2, 2017

Center for Agricultural and Rural Development researcher Helen Jensen is among those named to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee Science Breakthroughs 2030. The committee is part of an initiative to identify scientific opportunities in food and agriculture in the next decade and beyond.

According to Jensen, the committee will identify future directions and strategies to foster innovative research in the food and agriculture system. “The committee will consider, broadly, the major challenges, opportunities for advancement, and knowledge gaps,” she said. Of her selection to the committee, she said “Perspectives from various disciplines is critical to this process. I bring the disciplinary focus of economics and am able to provide a broad perspective on the food and agricultural sector, including related consumptions and nutritional implications.”

The committee, Jensen said, has a somewhat shorter than normal timeline, holding its first meeting this month, and providing a final report to be released in March, 2018.

"Farmers are facing more problems at a faster pace than ever before," said Thomas Grumbly, President of the Supporters of Agricultural Research (SoAR) Foundation, which helped conceive and fund Science Breakthroughs 2030. "This is the perfect set of leaders to produce a research agenda to address the challenges of today and tomorrow."

A public launch reception for Science Breakthroughs 2030 is scheduled for 5:30 PM on Wednesday, June 14 at the National Academies of Science headquarters in Washington, DC. For more information on the Science Breakthroughs 2030 study and to sign up for updates, go to: http://nas-sites.org/dels/studies/agricultural-science-breakthroughs

Committee members include:

• John D. Floros, Co-Chair- Dean of the College of Agriculture and Director of Research and Extension, Kansas State University


• Susan R. Wessler, Co-Chair- Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, University of California, Riverside; Home Secretary, National Academy of Sciences


• David B. Allison- Distinguished Professor and Quetelet Endowed Professor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham


• Corrie C. Brown- Professor of Anatomic Pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia


• Lisa Goddard- Director of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University


• Mary Lou Guerinot- Ronald and Deborah Harris Professor in the Sciences in the Department of Biological Sciences, Dartmouth College


• Janet Jansson- Chief Scientist for Biology in the Earth and Biological Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory


• Lee-Ann Jaykus- William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, North Carolina State University


• Helen H. Jensen- Professor of Economics in the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, Iowa State University


• Rajiv Khosla-Monfort- Professor of Precision Agriculture in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University


• Robin Lougee- Research Lead for Consumer Products and Agriculture, IBM Research, Yorktown Heights, New York


• Gregory V. Lowry- Walter J. Blenko, Sr. Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University


• Alison L. Van Eenennaam- Cooperative Extension Specialist, Animal Genomics and Biotechnology in the Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis