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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has both the present and future in mind when
we talk about the five grand challenges facing us as educators, researchers, students, and
as a global society. We consider these challenges our blueprint for serving the College, the
nation, and the world, in the twenty-first century.
Global population is expected to grow from 7 billion to 9 billion by the year 2050. We
must find ways to feed more people, in spite of decreasing resources and greater environmental
challenges. Our faculty and students are helping to launch a second Green Revolution that will
boost global food production through genetics and genomics research. Feeding our world is
truly a grand challenge — one we take seriously.
Our students are the research scientists, medical professionals, and biotechnology engineers
of the future. We prepare them to develop new drugs and vaccines, improve public health,
and design foods with enhanced nutritional value. Using structural biology and bioinformatics,
our faculty and students find new, less invasive ways to fight deadly diseases. These are challenges
worthy of our best minds.
While we work to make food more plentiful, we are committed to the health of our environment
and ecosystems. We promote sustainability in agricultural production, and we are also
restoring damaged lands, protecting and conserving water and wildlife, and developing biofuels
for a clean and secure energy future.
We prepare our students to be leaders in solving the world's greatest challenges, no matter
what career they choose. And there are many opportunities to enrich their academic experience
— through research, clubs and organizations, study abroad, and internships. Our faculty
members also reach out to young people at risk in urban and rural communities and support
4-H, FFA, and other youth organizations.
People are confronting economic challenges the world over. But nations that are becoming
more economically secure can produce and buy more goods, including fresh meats and produce.
As we work to make food more plentiful and affordable, we must also reach new markets
and create new products. This is how the College is growing our economy today.
As we take on these five grand challenges, we must sharpen our skills and keep an open
mind to new ideas. We will help agriculture and life sciences evolve today — to prepare
our world for tomorrow.