Webinars

Series sponsors: Eversole Associates, Extension Committee on Organization & Policy (ECOP), and SoAR Foundation

Over the past several decades, wildfire activity in the western United States has increased dramatically. At the same time, many rural communities in the region have become increasingly dependent on outdoor recreation to drive their local economies. This research project investigates relationships between wildfire, outdoor recreation, and rural economic activity in the western U.S. Using ten years of daily data on recreation on federal lands, we analyze the effects of wildfires and wildfire smoke on recreation site use. We then use data on employment in individual business establishments to estimate the effects of wildfires on local economies. The research provides new information on how wildfires and wildfire smoke are driving impacts to recreation-dependent rural communities.

Speaker Biography:

Margaret Walls, Ph.D, is a Senior Fellow with Resources for the Future. Walls’ current research focuses on issues related to resilience and adaptation to extreme events, ecosystem services, and conservation, parks and public lands. Walls’s work on resilience assesses the factors that affect household location decisions in coastal areas, how individuals perceive flood risks, and how risk perceptions affect adaptation decisions. She has estimated the value of natural lands—such as wetlands—in providing protection from hurricanes and flooding, and is assessing the extent to which hurricanes affect U.S. migration patterns.

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This Latte-N-Learn webinar was held on September 15 at 10 a.m. eastern and featured USDA Under Secretary Chavonda Jacobs-Young and the leadership at ARS, ERS, NASS, and NIFA . Watch the video archive to learn how USDA's research community is working to advance climate-smart agriculture and nutrition security.

Series sponsors: Eversole Associates, Extension Committee on Organization & Policy (ECOP), and SoAR Foundation

For more than 40 years, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) have provided science-based guidance for healthy eating, yet the quality of American diets has shown limited improvement. In 2021 a diverse group of thought leaders in health, nutrition and food science convened at a workshop hosted by IFT and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, supported by USDA/NIFA, to discuss opportunities to help consumers meet dietary guidelines. Key opportunities identified included advancing food science and technology research and broadening public-private collaborations to develop safe, affordable, and accessible, nutrient dense foods. This webinar will discuss these key recommendations in greater detail and what steps can be taken to advance innovations and empower consumers to make positive shifts towards healthier diets.

Speaker Biography:

Dr. Noel E. Anderson is managing partner of Mosaic Food Advisors LLC which helps start-up companies in the food and beverage arena succeed in the marketplace. Previously, Noel spent 19 years in Research & Development at PepsiCo and 18 years at General Foods/Kraft. 

After receiving his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts in Food Science and Nutrition Noel stayed actively engaged with the Food Science Department. Noel served on its Industrial Advisory Board for more than 20 years, with 16 years as its Chairperson. During this time the department raised over $12 million, and its Graduate Program achieved the #1 ranking in the US. He received the UMass Amherst Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award in 2011. 

Noel is also very active in the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). He currently serves as the 2020-2021 Past President of the 13,000-member association and was elected as an IFT Fellow in 2010. Previously Noel served   as a trustee and then chair of the Board of Trustees for Feeding Tomorrow, IFT’s foundation. 

Noel divides his time between Stamford, Connecticut and Westerly, Rhode Island.

Series sponsors: Eversole Associates, Extension Committee on Organization & Policy (ECOP), and SoAR Foundation

Process food waste is generated by large-scale food producers and is generally comprised of inedible portions of organic matter like fruit and vegetable trimmings, skins and peels, and brewing and wine waste. Diversion of these wastes from the landfill to higher value products can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and give additional value to a once discarded source. Process food waste is rich in carbon and often contain various nutraceuticals or bioactive compounds that can be recovered. Alternatively, the process food waste can be upgraded to methane via anaerobic digestion.           

Speaker Biography:
Dr. Abigail Engelberth is an Assistant Professor in Agricultural and Biological Engineering and in Environmental and Ecological Engineering at Purdue University. She earned a B.S. and M.E. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas. Dr. Engelberth was a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Maine and built a process model to emulate the conversion of hemicellulose into liquid fuels via anaerobic digestion. Dr. Engelberth’s research focuses on three sections:  identifying new bioproducts or new sources from which to obtain existing bioproducts; developing methods to recover bioproducts; and modeling the recovery and purification steps in order to effectively scale-up the process.

Series sponsors: Eversole Associates, Extension Committee on Organization & Policy (ECOP), and SoAR Foundation

Climate change is impacting rural America from the arid west to the humid east. America’s agricultural producers are living with intensifying droughts, wildfires, temperature extremes, floods, hail, hurricanes, and reduced winter snowpack all of which increase production risks. Of significance, aquifer levels in arid and semi-arid production regions are no longer meeting crop water demands, and in many cases no longer a viable water source for rural communities. The presentation will address Climate Smart practices that are being investigated in the Texas High Plains and emphasize the impacts of reduced agricultural production on America’s farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.        

Speaker Biography:

Dr. Jourdan Bell is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University in Amarillo, Texas. Dr. Bell’s extension and research efforts focus on agronomic management to improve crop production and profitability on the Texas High Plains. Her extension activities include assisting county extension agents with demonstration trials as well as compiling and presenting results for regional producers through trial reports and county programs. Her research portfolio focuses on crop selection and agronomic practices in sorghum, wheat, cotton, and corn systems on the Texas High Plains in the face of declining regional groundwater levels. Dr. Bell earned her PhD in soil science from Texas A&M University and a M.S. in plant, soil, and environmental science form West Texas A&M University. Dr. Bell is actively involved with the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America as well as Women in Science Endeavors (WISE).

NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer and ERS Administrator Spiro Stefanou 

NIFA Director Carrie Castille & Senior Leadership Team

USDA ARS Associate Administrator Steve Kappes

Ken Olson, FASS
Keith Belk, Professor and Head, Department of Animal Science and Adjunct Professor in the Colorado School of Public Health

Charlie Messina, Corteva Agriscience
Lisa Ainsworth, Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit, USDA, ARS

David Baltensperger, Texas A&M University
Zhengxia Dou, University of Pennsylvania
Marty Matlock, University of Arkansas
Debbie Reed, Ecosystem Services
Alex Thomasson, Mississippi State University
Juan Tricarico, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy

Spiro Sterfanou, USDA, ERS Administrator, Washington, D.C.
Herbert Hamer, USDA, NASS Administrator, Washington, D.C.
Barb Glenn, NASDA CEO, Arlington, Virginia

Chavonda Jacobs-Young, USDA, ARS, Washington, D.C.
Alice H. Lichtenstein, USDA, ARS, Washington, D.C.
Russell W. Jessup, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

Carrie Castille, USDA, NIFA, Washington, D.C.
Bret Hess, Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors, Reno, Nevada
Susan Ballabina, Texas A&M AgriLife, Stephenville, Texas
Jason Henderson, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
Vonda Richardson, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Florida
Alton Thompson, Executive Director, Association of 1890s Research Directors, Tuskegee, Alabama
Brian Kowalkowski, College of Menominee Nation, Keshena, Wisconsin

David Stern, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Samantha Shoaf Miller, Beck's Hybrids, Atlanta, Indiana