Talk on Climate Change and the Future of Food by Dr. Lewis Ziska

On March 28 at 7:30pm, Lewis H. Ziska, PhD - a plant physiologist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland--will present a talk entitled, “Climate Change and the Future of Food.” In this overview on the impact of carbon dioxide and climate change on food security, Dr. Ziska will present data from a number of sources that document the likely changes in temperature, carbon dioxide, and water on crop quality and production, and identify other biological interactions with pests, weeds, and diseases. In addition, he will discuss adaptation strategies, focusing on exploiting genetic and intra-specific variability within plant germplasm as a possible means to maintain agricultural production in the future.

After graduating from the University of California, Davis, Dr. Ziska first served as a Smithsonian fellow and later became the project leader for global climate change at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Since joining USDA in 1998, Dr. Ziska has published over 100 peer reviewed research articles relating to climate change and rising carbon dioxide. These articles address: agriculture and food security; weeds and weed management; invasive species; and plant biology and public health. Dr. Ziska is a recent contributor to the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report (food security chapter) and the 2014 National Climate Assessment (public health chapter). His work has appeared inScientific American, USA Today, CBS Nightly News, National Geographic, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Dr. Ziska is the author of Weed Biology and Climate Change (with Jeff Dukes, Wiley Press) and the editor of Invasive Species and Global Climate Change (with Jeff Dukes, CABi Press).

Hosted by Mishkan Torah’s Social Action Committee, the talk is free and open to the public. Light refreshments - including some that are threatened - by climate change will be served. change--will be served. change--will be served. For more information, email socialaction@mishkantorah.org.

Mishkan Torah Synagogue is located at 10 Ridge Road, Greenbelt, MD.