Accueil Pr Rebecca Nelson pour les explorations agroecologiques

Rebecca Nelson is motivated by concern for agricultural sustainability and the roles of smallholders in transitions to agroecological farming,
and an interest in agroecological pest and disease management. Her current roles include the following:
 Scientific Director of the McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Program (CCRP, co-directed with Jane Maland Cady), which is focused on agroecological intensification of smallholder farming in 10 countries in which food insecurity is a serious problem. The CCRP supports work in West Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa and the Andes. CCRP is linked with Fondation Agropolis through membership in the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. One of the CCRP’s major initiatives is support for the formation and evolution of farmer research networks.
 Co-leader (together with Ken Giller of Wageningen University and Achim Doberman of Rothamsted Center) of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), which is linked with the UN and supports the SDGs; the SDSN has offices in Paris and New York.
 Co-director (together with Chris Barrett) of Cornell University’s Food Security Working Group, which is part of the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future. Member of the External Advisory Board of the INRA’s SMaCH Metaprogramme (and former reviewer of the metaprogrammes).
 Leader of a maize genetics laboratory at Cornell, focusing on sustainable utilization of natural diversity for disease resistance, with a special focus on mycotoxigenic fungi that influence food security and health in tropical countries.

The main objectives of her visit of Rebecca are:
To explore and create synergies among members of the Montpellier research community and the networks represented by the visitor, including the McKnight CCRP, the UN SDSN and the Cornell community;

2. To seek substantial funding support for a new initiative emerging from these explorations; and

3. As a result of these efforts, to improve crop and system health through novel approaches to soil and plant health management.