Newswise — September 26, 2019 – The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America will host Embracing the Digital Environment ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The meeting will be held Nov. 10-13, 2019; media are invited. Nearly 4,000 agronomists, and crop and soil scientists will be at the meeting.
Featured speakers, times and dates are (media registration required by Oct 25th for all):
Joe Cornelius, director of global development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will present “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.” His presentation is the opening keynote on Sunday, Nov. 10th, at 6PM. “The agricultural sector is being confronted by enormous planetary changes,” says Cornelius. “Digital agriculture can pave a path to reduce poverty, increase food security, advance economic quality, and conserve natural resources.”
“Digital Soil Science and Beyond” is the topic of Alex McBratney’s talk on Monday, Nov. 11th at 8:30 AM. He will explore “how digital science and technology has affected soil science. To some degree, all my research and teaching has been enabled, enhanced and expanded by digital technology.” McBratney is the director of the Sydney Institute of Agriculture.
Andrew Jarvis and Cynthia Parr will jointly present “The CGIAR Big Data Platform and the NAL Ag Data Commons: Model Infrastructures for Advancing Research on Complex Problems.” Their talk is on Tuesday, Nov. 12th, at 8:30 AM. Moving agricultural research into the digital era requires novel infrastructure, tools and collaborations with data scientists to realize the benefits of data sharing and reuse. These two presentations from internationally renowned leaders represent advancing science via big and open agricultural data. Parr works with the USDA, and Jarvis works for CIAT.
“Finding Voice and Purpose as a Scientist in the Age of Digital Agriculture,” is the topic for Kim Kidwell’s presentation on Wednesday, Nov. 13th at 8:30 AM. Kidwell is the Robert Easter Chair in the College of ACES at University of Illinois. “From the discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953 to the development of gene edited human zygotes using CRSPR-CAS9 in 2015, there has never been more to know and understand about the underpinnings of agricultural science than there is today, which can be intimidating to the scientist, both entry level and seasoned. Finding our voice and purpose as a scientific community may well be the most essential advancement that must be made to assure a vibrant future for the agricultural industry.”
For more information about the Embracing the Digital Environment 2019 meeting, visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/. Media are invited to attend the conference. Pre-registration by Oct. 25, 2019 is required. Visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/media for registration information.
To speak with one of the scientists, contact Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, [email protected] to arrange an interview.
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