Global Climate Change and Its Impact on Food Production and Biofuels

Presenters from the March 2nd Forum

Duane Acker is a member of the steering committee of 25x'25, a national group of agriculture and forestry leaders who advance the vision that by 2025 at least 25 percent of the U.S. energy consumption should come from the land - solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuels. Acker is president emeritus of Kansas State University and also served as assistant secretary of agriculture for science and education in the George H. W. Bush administration. Following his university and government service, Acker returned to operate his family farm in southwestern Iowa where he now lives.

Christopher J. Anderson is a Scientist at Iowa State University in the Department of Agronomy and Assistant Director of the Climate Science Initiative, an ISU research program that provides authoritative, scientific information for short-term and long-term decision-making to promote the development of long-term resilience to climate change and climate variability. He holds doctoral and master degrees in agricultural meteorology from Iowa State University. He completed his undergraduate degree in meteorology at St. Cloud State University. Anderson's research examines how climate variability relates to the hydrological cycle and water resources. He has worked closely with water resource managers in the western United States to incorporate climate information into water resource management tools. He recently organized a workshop to identify ways in which climate information may improve mitigation of Midwestern river floods.

Raymond Arritt is a Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University. He received his B.A. in Economics and M.S. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia, and his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Colorado State University. Arritt's research focuses on regional aspects of climate and climate change. Current research topics include the effects of biofuels production on regional climate and precipitation, and leadership of a multi-institutional project to improve methods of seasonal forecasting in cooperation with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Arritt was a Contributing Author to the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Bruce Babcock is a Professor of Economics and the director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development at Iowa State University. Babcock's research interests include understanding agricultural commodity markets, the impacts of biofuels on U.S. and world agriculture, the development of innovative risk management strategies for farmers, and the analysis of agricultural and trade policies. Babcock received his B.S. in economics of resource use and his M.S. in agricultural economics from the University of California at Davis, and his Ph.D. in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Justin Baker is a Research Analyst at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University, and a doctoral candidate in Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. A natural resource and environmental economist by training, Baker is currently involved in a number of projects related to bioenergy expansion and climate mitigation incentives in agriculture and forestry. Specifically, Baker uses sectoral economic modeling to study the various interactions of climate and energy policies on agricultural and forest commodity markets, land-use change, water resource use and quality, and traditional land conservation efforts. Baker has been involved in recent enhancement of the U.S. Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model with Greenhouse Gases (FASOMGHG) and subsequent policy analysis in collaboration with researchers across multiple public and academic institutions. In addition, he assists with other economic modeling efforts within the Nicholas Institute related to climate and energy policy.

Robert T. Burns is a Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University. Burns leads the ISU Agricultural Waste Management Team. This team conducts applied research and extension programming focused on animal manure management, including work on quantifying and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production systems. Burns currently serves on the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force that is charged with advising the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture regarding agricultural air quality issues. Burns has given over 500 professional presentations and published over 200 technical publications dealing with manure management and air quality issues.

James Bushnell is an Associate Professor and Cargill Chair in Energy Economics at the Department of Economics at Iowa State University. He is also the Director of ISU's Biobased Industry Center and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Bushnell received a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. He has written extensively on the regulation, organization, and competitiveness of energy markets. Bushnell has served as a member of the Market Monitoring Committee of the California Power Exchange and is currently a member of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). He has testified on regulatory and competition policy issues before numerous state and Federal regulatory and legislative institutions and consulted on energy issues throughout the United States and internationally.

William Gutowski is a Professor of Synoptic Meteorology, Global Climate Change, in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University. He received a B.S. in Astronomy and Physics from Yale University in 1976 and a Ph.D. in Meteorology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984. Gutowski's research concentrates on the role of atmospheric dynamics in climate. Central focuses are the dynamics of the hydrologic cycle and regional climate. Because processes on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales are important for both of these, his research program entails a variety of modeling and data analysis approaches. His work includes regional modeling of African, Arctic, and East Asian climates and has significant collaboration with scientists in these regions. Much of his work is through the Regional Climate Modeling Laboratory (PIRCS), which he coordinates with Dr. Eugene Takle and Dr. Ray Arritt (ISU Department of Agronomy).

Chad Hart is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Iowa State University (ISU) and the grain markets specialist for ISU Extension. Prior to becoming an assistant professor, Hart was a scientist with the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University. For CARD, Hart served as head of the Biorenewables Policy Division and examined the interactions between the agricultural and energy sectors.

Dermot Hayes is the Pioneer Hi-Bred International Chair in Agribusiness, Professor of Economics, and Professor of Finance at Iowa State University. He heads the Trade and Agricultural Policy Division at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), a position he also held from 1990 through 1998. He is co-director, with Jacinto Fabiosa, of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, a research center dually administered through CARD at Iowa State and at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He is also a leader of the Policy Task Force of the Plant Science Institute at Iowa State. A native of the Republic of Ireland, Hayes obtained his degree in agriculture science from the University College in Dublin in 1981 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986 with a major in international trade. Hayes joined the Department of Economics at Iowa State University in March 1986. He has distinguished himself with many awards at the college and university levels for his work as a teacher and researcher. In 2006, he received a "Publication of Enduring Quality" award from the American Agricultural Economics Association. AAEA named him a Fellow in 2007, its highest recognition for distinction in the discipline. Besides his analysis of U.S. farm policy and international agricultural trade, his other research interests include food safety, livestock modeling, demand analysis, and commodity markets.

Leslie C. Lewis is Professor and Chair, Department of Entomology, Iowa State University. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Vermont in Animal Science and Animal Nutrition, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Entomology from Iowa State University. Prior to becoming Chair of the Department of Entomology, Lewis had a career as a Research Entomologist and Research Leader of the Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), U.S. Department of Agriculture, in Ames, Iowa. His research area was insect pathology and integrated pest management of insect pests of corn. Lewis is Senior Scientist of the Year with ARS and a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America.

Annette O'Connor received her bachelor's degree (BVSc) from the University of Sydney in 1993, a master's degree (MVSc) from the University of Queensland in 1997, and doctoral degree (DVSc) from the University of Guelph. In 2009, O'Connor was admitted as a Fellow of Epidemiology to the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists. She is only one of seven Epidemiology Fellows and the first female Fellow of Epidemiology in the College. O'Connor is Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Iowa State University and holds Adjunct Professor status at the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. O'Connor has two main areas of research interest. One area of focus relates to the epidemiology of infectious disease that affect livestock populations, and O'Connor has focused on understanding the epidemiology and control of Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), bovine viral diarrhea virus, Corona virus, and summer pneumonia in beef cattle. Studies have included observational studies and randomized field trials. O'Connor has also collaborated on projects on PRRS virus in pigs and influenza virus. Another area of focus has been understanding how researchers can use key methodological concepts of epidemiology, study design, causal inference, and review methodologies to better translate and synthesize primary research findings into useful decision support tools.

Eugene S. Takle grew up on a farm in southwestern Minnesota and has a BA in physics and math from Luther College and a Ph.D. in physics from Iowa State University in 1971. Since 1971, Takle has served a dual appointment on the faculty in the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences and the Department of Agronomy at ISU. He directors the ISU Climate Science Initiative and serves on numerous national and international boards and committees, including Atmospheric Science Editor of Earth Science Reviews. Takle's research assists policy makers, the agriculture industry, and other segments of the Midwest to develop policies and practices to adapt to climate change, and has generated over 100 articles in refereed journals. He served as contributing author and reviewer of the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. His research has been funded by National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, USDA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Iowa DOT. Takle serves as Commissioner for Education and Human Resources of the American Meteorological Society and also serves on the Board of Trustees of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, a consortium of 82 universities that manages NSF's National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Daniel De La Torre Ugarte is a Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics of the University of Tennessee. He is also the Associate Director of the Agricultural Policy Analysis Center. Originally from Peru where he received a degree in economics, De La Torre Ugarte earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University in 1992. De La Torre Ugarte's primary areas of research have focused on the impacts of U.S. agricultural policy, the consequences of trade liberalization in agriculture, the feasibility of international supply management in agriculture, and the synergism of agricultural and energy policy in reducing poverty and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. He is engaged in international dialogues with academics, farm organizations, non-governmental organizations, policy makers, and international organizations to develop mechanisms that would allow agricultural trade to contribute to global food security and sustainable economic development.

Mark E. Westgate is Professor of Crop Production and Physiology in the Department of Agronomy at Iowa State University. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology from the University of Dayton, and his Ph.D. degree in Agronomy from the University of Illinois. His research program centers on understanding the physiological mechanisms controlling the response of seed formation and development of major agricultural crops to environmental stresses. Westgate is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America, and Science Fellow of the Australian National University. He currently serves as the Editor for Crop Science, the flagship journal of the Crop Science Society of America, and is the Director of Iowa State University's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods.