Effectively Communicating Agricultural Science
Kevin M. FoltaProfessor and Chairman
Horticultural Sciences Department
kfolta.blogspot.com@kevinfolta
www.talkingbiotechpodcast.com
Universities are great at generating agricultural innovation.
We are good at delivering information.
Universities are great at generating agricultural innovation.
We are good at delivering information.
How do we ensure equal access to agricultural innovations?
Universities are great at generating agricultural innovation.
We are good at delivering information.
How do we ensure equal access to agricultural innovations?
Must come from effective communication.
Scientists don’t know how to speak up. Scientists don’t know how to speak up.
Scientists are afraid to speak up.Scientists are afraid to speak up.
FR
elat
ive
num
ber i
n po
pula
tion
Nonexperts
Farmers, scientists,
Etc.
MOST PEOPLE!!!!
FEAR FACTS
Favorable views of technology
Why It Matters. We need to ensure equal access to agricultural innovation.
Solutions exist, that we don’t use.
Golden Rice
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Opposition to golden rice cost $2 billion to farmers in developing countries and 1.4 million human years – Wesseler et al., 2014
Cassava
Virus Resistant Cassava (VIRCA)
Biocassava Plus (BC Plus)
250 million depend on cassava
50 million tons lost to virus.
X
X Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Bacterial Wilt in Bananas
>70% of carbohydrate calories for some areas
GM trials in Uganda
X
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
X
GE chickens do not pass on Avian Influenza
Episode 007
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
X
X
X
X Animal welfare
AquaBounty Salmon – attains market weight in less time. Salmon may be farmed on inland pools, generating high protein food on fewer inputs.
Episode 008
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
X
X
X
X Wild populations
First Approved GE Animal !!
Non Browning ApplesSilencing a gene that leads to discoloration
XX
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
Small Business!X
Stopping Citrus Greening Spinach defensin
NPR1
Lytic peptides
Many show promise
Earliest deregulation is 2019
X
Farmers
Consumers
Environment
Needy
X
X
Your job--
Communication about agriculture.
Share your stories, your journey, your experience.
Share your passions.
Share the innovations that inspire you.
Your job--
Start a blog.
Amplify positive messages in social media.
Write. The internet is hungry for content.
Start a science café. They will come.
Speak.
kfolta.blogspot.com@kevinfolta
"There is a path to truth and sincerity that you must guard and defend“
-- Teruyuki Okazaki
“It is our mission to stand up for the truth that science gives us.”
Dr. Jack Payne
Follow FOIA developments using #Science14
www.talkingbiotechpodcast.com
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