USDA Officials Shed Light On Mission, Partnerships
MARY HIGHTOWER
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS
Partnerships with land grant universities and private sector researchers are critical for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to achieve the goals of its first-ever science and research strategy, said Deirdra Chester, director of USDA’s Office of the Chief Scientist.
Chester was among several high-level USDA officials speaking at the Agri-Food Innovation Summit held Nov. 2-3 at the headquarters of the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station in Fayetteville. The experiment station is the research arm of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
The summit offered researchers and entrepreneurs an opportunity to hear about partnership and funding strategies, network and visit with USDA officials.
At a climate summit in May, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack shared the strategy which embodies “USDA's three-year vision for transforming U.S. agriculture through science and innovation,” Chester said. That strategy “outlines our department's five highest scientific priorities. Those priorities are accelerating innovative technologies and practices, driving climate-smart solutions, bolstering nutrition security and health, cultivating resilient ecosystems and translating research into action.”
Chester said the mission of her office is to provide scientific leadership and coordination across the USDA and that USDA-funded research is held to the highest standards of intellectual rigor and scientific integrity.
“This is a job that we do not take lightly within USDA,” she said. The Office of the Chief Scientist “works to ensure that the department’s policies and actions are based on science that is honest, accessible, objective and based on data that is reliable, timely and relevant, since science and research is what really undergirds all of USDA's programs and serves many others beyond the department's wall.
“Fundamental to reaching these goals is our partnerships with land grant universities and private sector scientists,” Chester said. “These are the people who help us collaborate to ensure that our nation’s system is more sustainable resilient and profitable.
“An important part of this strategy is our collaboration with you every one of you that sit in this room,” Chester said. “This is a call to you to propose big audacious solutions around the priorities we set forth.”
The USDA’s new outlook on research and innovation “could not come at a more critical time,” Chester said. “The global population is expected to exceed 9 billion people by 2050, and so that's 2 billion more mouths to feed. To do this we'll need 70 percent more food 30 percent more water and 50 percent more energy. In agriculture today our farmers and producers are faced with mounting challenges like climate change impacts new and emerging pests and diseases high production costs and low profit.”
These challenges emphasize the need for us to revolutionize the way we grow our food — and fast — if we want to feed a growing world,” she said.
Jodi Williams, NIFA national program leader in Food Safety, gave a brief overview of the types of funding available and the breadth of the topics NIFA embraces.
These topics are “anything that you could imagine across agriculture on, including education, environment, farming and ranching, human sciences, plants,” she said.
Williams said that partnerships with land grant institutions established by the Morrill Acts of 1862,1890 and 1994 — which include historically black and native American institutions — “how we get our work done, and we do this through our different capacity and competitive grant programs. Either competitively or through formula, we allocate those funds out so the work can actually be done.”
NIFA awarded more than $187 million in funding to the University of Arkansas System since 2018, according to Dionne Toombs, associate director for programs at NIFA.
“The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture has a long history of providing leadership in developing and disseminating innovative practices and emerging technologies,” Toombs said. “NIFA has been a proud partner in supporting these innovations.”
Toombs said the “creativity and determination” from agricultural sectors across Arkansas helps “all Americans have access to safe, nutritious and affordable foods.” Like other groups that provide funding, Toombs said NIFA looks for what she calls “the three Cs.” That is “collaboration, cultivation and communication.”
Williams, Robert Godfrey, division director of animal systems for NIFA; and Michelle Santos-Schelski, national program leader the division of community and education for NIFA; all held breakout sessions with participants to discuss specifics of their programs.
Following the breakouts, the USDA leaders toured labs and heard about the work done by Division of Agriculture researchers. The tour made stops at the Food Safety Laboratory with Kristen Gibson, director of the Center for Food Safety; Clean Plant Center with an overview by its director Ioannis Tzanetakis; and the lab of Food Scientist Ali Ubeyitogullari, who showed his work with 3D food printing, food-based aerogels and supercritical carbon dioxide. The tour finished up with Food Scientist Scott Lafontaine and a tasting from the Division of Agriculture’s research brewery, including beers made with rice bred by division researchers. ∆
MARY HIGHTOWER: University of Arkansas