AMES, Iowa -- Sustainability of human health is now more of a concern in a world facing climate change, population explosion and diminishing resources. And Iowa State University's Nutrition and Wellness Research Center (NWRC) will address those concerns in its 2012 symposium, "Sustaining Health in a Changing Environment: Creating a Resilient Future," May 16-18, at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames.
The symposium will bring together national and international experts who will cover the role of climate on human, plant and animal health, food insecurity and sustainability of the food supply.
"This symposium will provide attendees with an in-depth look at the relationships among human, animal, and plant health from the perspective of climate change and sustainable food systems," said Michael Spurlock, a member of the symposium organizing committee and the NWRC director of integrative and translational research. "I can't imagine any topic being more timely or more fundamental to the world food supply and global health and wellness."
The symposium is open to the public. Details and registration information are available here, or by contacting Joanne Lasrado-Hollis, NWRC research scientist, at 515-294-9779, or lasrado@iastate.edu.
Michael Hamm, the C. S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture at Michigan State University and the visiting 2011-12 Dean Helen LeBaron Hilton Chair for ISU's College of Human Sciences, will deliver the symposium's free, public keynote address on Wednesday, May 16, at 7:30 p.m. Hamm's talk, titled "Living in a Changing World: Improving Dietary Quality with Constrained Resources," will be preceded by a 5 p.m. reception.
Hamm heads the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems, which focuses on the viability of small- and medium-scale family farms, equal access by all members of a community to a healthy diet, and dispersion of animals in the countryside. He serves on the Michigan Food Policy Council and also co-founded and directed the New Jersey Urban Ecology Program, an effort that brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds to address sustainable food systems in New Jersey.
In addition to Hamm, the symposium will feature:
- Marc Cohen, senior researcher of humanitarian policy at Oxfam America in Washington, D.C., joining three Iowa State researchers Wednesday afternoon to speak on climate change and health.
- John Ingram, Natural Environment Research Council food security leader, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment; and Joan Rose, professor and Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research at Michigan State University, will join two researchers Thursday morning to discuss international food insecurity.
- Alice Ammerman, professor and nutrition director, Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the University of North Carolina; and former Iowa State researcher Craig Gundersen, professor of agriculture and consumer economics and executive director, National Soybean Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois; joining two other researchers Thursday afternoon to discuss national food insecurity.
- And Nancy Cramer, Distinguished Professor and horticulture director, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, North Carolina State University; joining Marianne Smith Edge, senior vice president, Nutrition and Food Safety, International Food Information Council in Washington, D.C., and two other researchers to discuss sustainable food systems in the symposium's final panel Friday morning.
The Nutrition and Wellness Research Center at Iowa State University works in partnership with food and health-related industries to enhance human wellness through research and educational activities that explore dietary intake, physical activity and health-related behaviors as they influence disease risk.