The Student Farm and the Rock Ethics Institute will be co-hosting Dr. Michael Mazourek for a virtual webinar on Wednesday, December 1 at 6 pm! The discussion will focus on seed saving, markets, plant breeding, and how to positively engage with agriculture in campus and community settings. All are invited to attend this eye-opening event.
About Dr. Michael Mazourek:
Michael Mazourek is the Calvin Knoyes Keeney Associate Professor of Vegetable Breeding at Cornell University. Michael is a breeder of peas, beans, squash, cucumbers and peppers and has released numerous cultivars and breeding materials that are shared by small, regional seed companies and incorporated into breeding program of the world’s largest seed companies. Michael’s specialty is biochemical genetics in vegetables; he explores the diverse phytochemistry that plants use to repel pests and herbivores, reward and nourish pollinators and seed dispersers and cope with environmental stresses, with a goal of harnessing to maximize nutrition and sustainability. Michael shares the craft of plant breeding with students at Cornell, through grower conferences and field days, and remotely through Also Seeds (@alsoseeds on Instagram). Michael is a pro-bono co-founder of Row 7 Seeds to advance a goal of helping public and freelance plant breeders share their creations with a public that seeks choice and diversity in their food.
Dr. Michael Mazourek’s Comments on the Seminar:
Plant breeders create new plant cultivars. These evolving varietals are key in how we adapt our food supply to match the evolution of crop pests and diseases, to thrive when grown in new settings, and to fit our expanding understanding of the interactions of productivity and sustainability. Sadly, our system of public plant breeders, distributed across the US to serve all our varied environments, has been eroding for decades. Instead, we now mostly rely on a couple corporations, that own the rights to reproduce the seed we plant to grow our food, supported by the notion of efficiency of scale. But in the past year, we have witnessed, that dependency on industrialized global supply chains is precarious.
I develop new vegetables in the public space while exploring ways to create paths to sustain and grow a future for open source plant breeding. How can we integrate ways for students to have hands on experience in growing food as a life skill and connection to self? How can we partner with chefs on the quest for better food? How can we support ready access to the resources to take up the craft of plant breeding? This webinar will blend a presentation of my efforts and the importance of recruiting others with ample time for questions and conversation.
The talk will last about 35 minutes, followed by a Q&A. Bring your seed saving questions! Advance registration is required, though the button below. If you have any questions, contact us at: studentfarm@psu.edu.