STILLWATER, Okla. – Bob Stewart of West Texas A&M University will be the featured speaker at the Nov. 5 Plant and Soil Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series on Oklahoma State University’s Stillwater campus.
The event is free and open to the public, and will take place in the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center, located on the corner of Farm Road and Monroe Street, just south of Hall of Fame Avenue. A welcome reception will begin at 3 p.m., with Stewart’s lecture starting at 3:30 p.m.
Stewart is the founder and director of the WTAMU Dryland Agriculture Institute; a former director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation and Production Research Laboratory in Bushland, Texas; and a past president of the Soil Science Society of America.
“I’m going to visit about some of the remarkable achievements that have occurred in crop production worldwide in the last 50 years and give my views on the technologies that made this happen, as well as some of the potential problems these technologies have helped to create,” he said.
Stewart cautions that global food demand is expected to increase 70 percent to 100 percent by 2050, and approximately half of the calories consumed worldwide are from direct consumption of grain.
“Meeting future demands for grain production is a major agricultural and societal issue, which is why the lecture will be examining some of the tremendous challenges that lie ahead for the next generation of agronomists,” he said.
A native of Erick, Okla., Stewart is a Cowboy alumnus, having earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science agriculture degrees from OSU. He earned his doctoral degree from Colorado State University.
“Faculty have made investments to initiate this series, which provides an outstanding learning experience for our students and for the broader OSU community to become more aware of key issues relative to agricultural and environmental concerns,” said Tyson Ochsner, assistant professor of plant and soil sciences with the university’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
Contributions are tax deductible for anyone who wishes to support the speaker series, and should be sent to the OSU Foundation designated as being for the “Plant and Soil Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series.” Additional information about support for this and other OSU programs is available by contacting the foundation at 405-385-5100.
For additional information about Stewart’s Nov. 5 reception and lecture, contact Shiping Deng, OSU Santelmann/Warth Professor of Soil Microbiology, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-9591.
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REPORTER/MEDIA CONTACT:
Donald Stotts
Communications Specialist
Agricultural Communications Services
143 Agriculture North
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-4079
Fax: 405-744-5739
Email: [email protected]
Oklahoma State University, U. S. Department of Agriculture, State and Local governments cooperating; Oklahoma State University in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal and state laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices, or procedures, and is an equal opportunity employer.
