Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

August 29, 2003

Food security lectures open to public

National leaders in crop bioterrorism and food security issues will give weekly talks on campus this fall as part of a new undergraduate course. Members of the public may attend the lectures without registering for the full course.

Seminar speakers will discuss the role of microorganisms and insects in crop bioterrorism and food safety, said course instructor and plant pathology professor Forrest Nutter. One-hour seminars, featuring national experts on the issues, will meet at 4:10 p.m. Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 9, in 210 Bessey.

Following are speakers participating in the seminar:

Sept. 9
"The Threat of Plant Pathogens as Weapons Against U.S. Crops"
Laurence V. Madden, professor, plant pathology, Ohio State University, Wooster Wooster, Ohio

Sept. 16
"Advances in Molecular-Based Diagnostics in Meeting Crop Biosecurity and Phytosanitary Issues"
Norm W. Schaad, research plant pathologist (bacterial), USDA/ARS Foreign Disease -- Weed Science Research Unit, Ft. Detrick, Md.

Sept. 23
"The Role of Scientific Societies in National Crop Biosecurity -- the American Phytopathological Society Model"
Jacque Fletcher, professor, entomology and plant pathology, Noble Research Center, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater

Sept. 30
"Rating Crop Pathogen Threats -- An Analytical Hierarchy Approach"
Douglas G. Luster, research leader, USDA/ARS Foreign Disease -- Weed Science Research Unit, Ft. Detrick, Md.

Oct. 7
"Commercial Seed Industry's Role in Crop Biosecurity"
Bill Dolezal, research fellow, plant pathology, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, Iowa

Oct. 14
"Arthropods and Plant Biosecurity"
Alan K. Dowdy, assistant director, USDA-APHIS-Plant Protection and Quarantine, Center for Plant Health Science and Technology, Raleigh, N.C.

Oct. 21
"Role of Seed-Borne Pathogens in Plant Biosecurity and Food Safety"
Denis McGee, professor, plant pathology and Seed Science Center, Iowa State University

Nov. 18
"The Role of University and Regional Diagnostic Centers in Countering Agricultural Bioterrorism"
Barbara Ambruzs and Paula Flynn, extension program specialists, Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, plant pathology, Iowa State University

Dec. 2
"Biosecurity Risk Assessment: Soybean Rust -- A Case Study"
X.B. Yang and Shimon Pivonia, professors, plant pathology, Iowa State University

Dec. 9
"Science Versus the Legal System: When Worlds Collide -- A Case Study in Citrus Canker"
Tim R. Gottwald, research leader/plant epidemiologist, Subtropical Plant Pathology Research Unit, USDA/ARS, Fort Pierce, Fla.