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Connecting with the World: UC Davis Global Conversations Series

Connecting with the World

UC Davis Global Affairs invites you to pull up a virtual chair as we host an online global conversations series, Connecting with the World. Join the conversation as we explore global and international topics, challenges, and opportunities that merge disciplines, cross borders, and connect you with the world.

UC Davis Global Conversations Series

What is the UC Davis Global Conversations Series? 

The UC Davis Global Conversations Series is an ongoing events series hosted by Global Affairs with the purpose of facilitating knowledge-sharing among UC Davis experts and external experts on global topics. The series will feature presentations and discussions with global and international leaders on global topics, challenges and opportunities—including those outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Past Schedule of Events

Promoting Women’s Resilience in Africa’s Arid Regions in the Age of COVID-19

Global Conversations Graphic

Empowering women provides the greatest return on investment for helping families and communities achieve a future free from poverty and food insecurity, particularly in areas that face a constant risk of disaster like severe drought. In arid northern Kenya, where families rely primarily on livestock for their livelihoods, the UC Davis-based MRR Innovation Lab is testing a pairing of development programs that has the potential to radically change poverty dynamics in these communities and it starts with investing in women-owned businesses and insurance to ensure they can hold onto their gains in the age of COVID-19.
 
The 60-minute online event, which will include a question-and-answer period, will begin with a welcome by Global Affairs Vice Provost and Dean Joanna Regulska, and features:

Moderated by:

COVID-19’s Impact on Global Agricultural Supply Chains and the Challenges Ahead

Panel Recording

 

  • Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. PDT
  • Co-hosted by: UC Davis Global Affairs, UC Davis World Food Center, in collaboration with ISAM-International School of Agri Management

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted agricultural supply chains within the United States and worldwide. A panel of experts from academia, industry and the non-profit sector will discuss how the pandemic has disrupted global supply chains in the near-term. Looking ahead, they will offer an assessment of COVID 19’s long-run impact on global agricultural trade and how we can prepare for similar crises in the future.  It is also part of the Campus Global Theme: Food for Thought: Feeding Ourselves, Feeding the Planet. 

Panelists include: 

  • Flavio Alzueta, former vice president and chief marketing officer, GLOBALG.A.P and professor at ISAM-International School of Agri Management in Almería, Spain
  • Shakira Phiri,  investment promotion officer at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism in Malawi, and 2018-19 Mandela Washington Fellow at UC Davis
  • Gloria E. Polanco, General Manager of FRUTESA (Frutas Tropicales de Guatemala, S.A.) 
  • Daniel Sumner, Frank H. Buck, Jr. Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, director of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center

Moderated by: 

  • Ermias Kebreab, director, of the UC Davis World Food Center, associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Global Engagement, and professor and Sesnon Endowed Chair in animal science, UC Davis

 

Conservation and Development in our Lakes: Lessons from Lake Tahoe and the North Patagonian Lake District

Panel Recording

Known for its beauty, Lake Tahoe is a natural jewel in Northern California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Unfortunately, increased human development has had a significant impact in the Tahoe Basin, degrading the region’s air quality, terrestrial landscape and streams, as well as the lake itself.  Starting in the 1950s, research by UC Davis experts has informed efforts in the Tahoe Basin to successfully balance the needs of the region’s natural ecosystem with long-run economic development.  Today, Chile’s North Patagonian Lake District also faces a situation in which rapid human development threatens the local ecosystem unless preventive measures are implemented.  This one-hour panel discussion will feature UC Davis experts from the Tahoe Environmental Research Center and the UC Davis Chile Life Sciences Innovation Center with project partners Fundación Chile Lagos Limpios NGO, along with representatives of Universidad Catolica’s Center for Global Change and the Chilean Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation to discuss preservation efforts in Chile’s Lake District.  Drawing upon lessons learned in the Lake Tahoe Basin, as well as knowledge of the social and policy landscape in Chile’s Lake District, these experts will jointly describe current projects that contribute to preservation of the region’s natural ecosystem while also supporting conditions for long-run economic development. 

Panelists include: 

  • Ángela Delorenzo, Founder and Director of Strategy at Fundación Chile Lagos Limpios 
  • Olga Barbosa, Head of the Regional Ministerial Secretariat for Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation for the South Macro Zone (SEREMI)  
  • Geoff Schladow, Director of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center and Professor of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at UC Davis (and Science Director, Fundacion Chile Lagos Limpios) 
  • Sebastian Vicuña, Director of the Center for Global Change and Associate Professor of Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile 

Moderated by: 

  • Lovell “Tu” Jarvis, Executive Director of the UC Davis Chile Life Sciences Innovation Center and Professor Emeritus of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Davis 

Achieving Zero Hunger: Perspectives from Four Universities Around the World

Panel Recording

  • Apr. 28, 2021; 10-11 a.m. PDT
  • Co-hosted by Earth University, featuring panelists from UC Davis, Earth University, Newcastle University, and Stellenbosch University

Join us for a panel discussion co-hosted by Earth University with faculty experts from UC Davis, Earth University (Costa Rica), Newcastle University (England), and Stellenbosch University (South Africa). Speakers are working on agriculture, food, nutrition, and related global issues. They will discuss how their work impacts SDG 2: Zero Hunger, and share updates on the valuable work being done at each university to address global hunger and malnutrition, as well as the areas of focus and concern for the next decade. 

The 60-minute online event will begin with welcomes by Global Affairs Vice Provost and Dean Joanna Regulska, and Earth University President Arturo Condo, and features:

  • Christine Stewart, Corinne L. Rustici Endowed Chair in applied human nutrition, and director of the Institute for Global Nutrition at UC Davis
  • Georg Lietz, professor of international nutrition, Newcastle University
  • Bianke Loedolff, postdoctoral research fellow, biotechnology, Stellenbosch University
  • Jose Eduardo Villalobos, professor of soil science, Earth University

Moderated by:

  • Ermias Kebreab, associate dean for global engagement in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UC Davis

Contact Information

Jolynn Shoemaker Headshot

Jolynn Shoemaker

Director of Global Engagements
Global Affairs
jmshoemaker@ucdavis.edu