On September 8, 2014, in the Monsanto room at the College of ACES Library, Gerald Nelson will present the first International Food Security Initiative Lecture from 4 to 5 pm.

Gerald Nelson is Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Jerry was the principal author of the report “Advancing Global Food Security in the Face of a Changing Climate” released by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in May 2014. He most recently served as a Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington, DC where he coordinated its climate change research, led the policy analysis activities of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security, and was the principal investigator on major projects on food security and climate change issues funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the German and British aid agencies.

His research includes global modeling of the interactions among agriculture, land use, and climate change; consequences of macro-economic, sector and trade policies and climate change on land use and the environment using remotely sensed, geographic and socioeconomic data; and the assessment of the effects of genetically modified crops on the environment. Jerry was the coordinating lead author of the Drivers chapter of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Scenarios work. Previously, he was Professor in the Department of Agricultural Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, served as Visiting Scholar at the Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and was Specialist and Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines. Jerry has been quoted in many publications, including the Economist, The New York Times, the British newspaper The Guardian, and the Tehran Times.

The International Food Security Initiative (IFSI), a new program of the Office of International Programs at the College of ACES, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, seeks to focus the expertise and resources of the University of Illinois to address the global challenge of ensuring that all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to achieve their human potential.

This announcement was taken from the ACES calendar.