Overcoming Challenges to Developing Sustainable Agri-food systems in the Tropics
Keynote Speakers
Arthur P.J. Mol
Professor of Environmental Policy
Department of Social Sciences
Wageningen University
Room 2029
Wageningen University
Social Sciences Group
Chairgroup Environmental Policy
T: 0317 482 495
F: 0317 483 990
Arthur.Mol@wur.nl
Professor Mol currently works extensively in Southeast and East Asia, East Africa, and the EU. His research interests are in social theory and the environment, globalization, informational governance, greening production and consumption, and environment and development. He is at the editorial board of eight international journals and two book series. He is board member of – among others – the WU Educational Institute, WU Academic Board, the Mansholt Graduate School of Social Sciences, the International Association for Society and Natural Resources, the research committee Environment and Society of the International Sociological Association, and the Environmental Research Network Asia. His latest books include: Environmental Governance in China (edited together with Neil Carter; Routledge, 2007). Partnerships, Governance and Sustainable Development. Reflections on theory and practice (edited together with Pieter Glasbergen and Frank Biermann; Edward Elgar, 2007) and Environmental Reform in the Information Age. The contours of informational governance (Cambridge UP, 2008).
Sayed Azam-Ali
Professor of Tropical Agronomy
School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science
University of Nottingham
Room 330 South Laboratory
Sutton Bonington
LE12 5RD
T: 0115 951 6049
F: 0115 951 6060
sayed.azam-ali@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor Azam-Ali major research interests include 1) the study of environmental factors for instance solar radiation, drought, temperature and atmospheric humidity that determine the performance of tropical crops growing in hostile environments and 2) the use of non traditional crops to increase global agricultural biodiversity.
Professor Azam-Ali’s most recent projects include:
1999-2000 (Department for International Development) Assessing the marketing and agroprocessing potential of bambara groundnut in southern Africa
2000-2003 (European Union) Increasing the productivity of bambara groundnut for sustainable food production in semi-arid Africa
2002-2005 (Department for International Development, Natural Resources Programme) Soil Water Management in Rainwater Harvesting Systems and Management of Common Pool Resources in Tanzania.
Professor Malcolm Elliot
Founding Executive Director of The Norman Borlaug Institute
De Montfort UniversityLeicester
LE7954
United Kingdom
T: 44 116 2362733
F: 44 116 2362733
prof.m.elliott@googlemail.com
Malcolm Elliott, the Founding Executive Director of The Norman Borlaug Institute for Crop Improvement, described The Norman Borlaug Institute's role as facilitating the delivery of food security and creation of wealth by applying cutting edge plant science techniques in crop improvement programmes which will enable the sustainable enhancement of global agricultural production. He graduated with First Class Honours in Plant Sciences from The University of Wales (1963) and received his PhD in plant biochemistry from The University of Wales in 1966. He was a Fulbright Scholar and Research Fellow at Yale University (1967–69); Lecturer in Plant Biochemistry at The University of Leicester (1969–71); Professor and Head of The School of Life Sciences at De Montfort University, Leicester (1971–94); Chairman of The College of Deans at De Montfort University (1989–93) then Founding Executive Director of The Norman Borlaug Institute (1994 to date). Professor Elliott is the author of several hundred research publications with emphasis on molecular biological approaches to cereal improvement. He was awarded the Charles University Medal (1992), the Gregor Mendel Gold Medal for Biological Sciences Research of Exceptional Merit (1993), the Jan Evangelista Purkyne Medal (1994) and the DSc (Honoris Causa) of the Bulgarian National Centre for Agricultural Sciences (2006).
Dr. Thembela Hillie
Principal Research Scientist
Nanoscience Research Group
CSIR Material Science and Manufacturing
P.O. Box 395
Pretoria
0001, ZA
Tel : +27(0) 12 841 3874
Fax: +27(0) 12 841 2865
e-mail: thillie@csir.co.za
Dr Hillie holds a PhD in Solid State Physics (2001) and has experience in semiconductor physics and surface science at nanoscale. He is currently working on scanning probe microscopy and low dimensional systems. His current projects include surface alloys, quantum dots and nano-phosphors for solid state lighting. In this regard he has 26 refereed publications and a book chapter. He has served on the South African Nanotechnology initiative (SANi) as Vice-Chairperson from September 2005 to 2008, having been an executive member since June 2004 to date. He is presently also serving on the National Nanotechnology Advisor Board (NAB) which will oversee and guide the implementation process of the nanotechnology strategy for the ultimate realisation of its objectives. Internationally, Dr Hillie is currently the DST’s South African National Contact Point for nanotechnology in the India-Brazil-South Africa trilateral cooperation agreement and in South Korea and Argentina bilateral agreements. He has also been invited and has served on the United Nations International Development Organization’s (ICS-UNIDO) Expert Group on Nanotechnology. In addition, the Meridian Institute, USA, has since February 2005 appointed him as a member of the Steering Committee on the Global Dialogue on nanotechnology and the Poor (GDNP) as well as the Critical Connections group (CCG).
Dr. Canagasaby Devendra
Consulting Tropical Animal Production Specialist,
130A Jalan Awan Jawa,
58200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
T: 60379879917
cdev@pc.jaring.my
Dr. Canagasaby Devendra has a B.Agric.Sci from New Z.ealand, M.Agric.Sci from Malaysia, and the PhD and DSc degrees from the University of Nottingham in the UK. His specialisation is in animal nutrition and animal production systems , spanning over thirty years of experience with research and development initiatives. He has worked at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). He has served as consultant to the World Bank, ADB, UNDP, FAO, IAEA, Commonwealth Secretariat, USAID and several governments. He has also been an external examiner to the Universities of Queensland, Australia, and Uppsala, Sweden, and the Agricultural University in Norway.
Dr Devendra has written 16 books and approximately 445 publications.The more recent of these are two chapter contributions (Food and Cultivated Systems ) in the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment ( 2005) , `Animal Production in the Tropics ` to the UNESCO /Encyclopedia of Life Support Sciences (2007a), `Small farm systems to feed hungry Asia ` in Outlook on Agriculture ( 2007b ), and the book ` Goats : Biology, production and development in Asia ‘(2007c). He is a member of the editorial board of nine international journals.
Dr Devendra was the first Asian recipient of the International Dairy Production award from the American Dairy Science Association in 1989. In 2004 he also received the Lincoln University International Alumni Medal from New Zealand, and the Asian Animal Science award from Korea. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.
Dr. Claude M. Fauquet
Director ILTAB
Member Danforth Plant Science Center
975 N. Warson Rd.
St Louis, MO63132
Tel: 314-587-1241
Fax: 314-587-1956
Email: iltab@danforthcenter.org
Website: www.danforthcenter.org/iltab
Dr. Claude Fauquet is Member, Principal Investigator and Director of ILTAB (International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural Biotechnology) at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He is Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri - Columbia and Member of the Graduate Faculty at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from University Louis Pasteur in Strasburg, France in 1974. Prior to co-founding the ILTAB program at The Scripps Research Institute with Dr. Roger N. Beachy in 1991, Dr. Fauquet worked for nineteen years as a plant virologist for ORSTOM (now IRD), a French public research institute dedicated to helping developing countries, and was stationed at a French research center in Ivory Coast, West Africa for fourteen of those years. He currently leads his laboratory in research projects concerning cassava genetic transformation, promoter studies, gene silencing and molecular plant virology of geminiviruses. Dr. Fauquet is also co-founder and Co-Chair of the Global Cassava Partnership for Genetic Improvement, a network whose goal is to enhance scientific and financial investment in cassava throughout the world. A specialist in geminiviruses, he has developed a firm foundation for the delineation of species among the geminiviruses and potyviruses. He has attained a high level of expertise in virus taxonomy and classification and was Secretary of the ICTV (International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses) for 18 years, today continuing his involvement in the classification and nomenclature of viruses. His active publishing career includes Editor of the Vth, VIth, VIIth and VIIIth ICTV Reports; Associate Editor for the Encyclopedia of Virology, Third Edition; consultant for Virus Taxonomy in Encyclopedia of Life Sciences; and more than 200 papers in scientific peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Fauquet has organized many scientific meetings and has participated in more than 200 meetings, symposia, congresses, etc. since 1972. He is an AAAS fellow, an APS fellow, a member of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences and a “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques.”
