General Events

Cultivating a New Vision for International Food Security in ACES

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PROGRAM

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

8:30 - 9 am:

Coffee Reception and Undergraduate Global Food Security Interns Poster Session

9-9:15 am:

Welcome and Introduction to Symposium 

Germán Bollero, Dean - College of ACES

Mary Arends-Kuenning, Associate Dean of International Programs - College of ACES

9:15-10:30 am:

Funding for Global Food Security

Moderator: Alex Winter-Nelson, Professor Emeritus - Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Pete Goldsmith, Director - Soybean Innovation Lab

Hope Michelson, Professor - Agricultural and Consumer Economics

Juan Arbelaez, Assistant Professor - Crop Sciences

10:35-11:45 am:

Circular Bioeconomy: What impact in the Global South?

Moderator: Jeremy Guest, Levenick Professor - Civil and Environmental Engineering

María Alejandra García Otero, Assistant Professor - Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences

Yuanhui Zhang, Founder Professor - Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Gal Hochman, Professor - Agricultural and Consumer Economics

11:45 am-1 pm:

Lunch

1-2:15 pm:

Perennial Grains: Global Advances

Juan Arbelaez, Assistant Professor  - Crop Sciences

Alexander Lipka, Associate Professor - Crop Sciences

Erik Sacks, Professor - Crop Sciences

2:15-3:15 pm:

Coffee Break

3:15-3:45 pm:

Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE)

3:45-4:45 pm:

Graduate Student Lightning Presentations

4:45-5:30 pm:

Reception 

Drinks and hors d'oeuvres

Thursday, April 16

9-10:15 am:

Sustaining Ethical and Equitable Collaborations with the Global South: An African Perspective

Moderator: Elsa Zawedde, Postdoctoral Associate - College of Law

Salif Coulibaly, Fulbright Fellow, Associate Professor of Economics at ENSEA

Crispin Cholwe, PhD Student - Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Jason Kandume, Visiting Research Specialist and PhD student - Agricultural and Biological Engineering

10:15-10:30 am:

Coffee Break

10:30-11:45 am:

Dietary Transition and Global Food Security

Margarita Teran-Garcia, Assistant Dean for Integrated Health Disparities Programs - Nutritional Sciences

Damir Torrico, Assistant Professor - Food Science and Human Nutrition 

Kelly Freeman-Bost, Professor - Human Development and Family Studies 

1:45 am-1 pm:

Lunch

1-2:15 pm:

School Feeding Programs for Global Food Security

Moderator: Mary Arends-Kuenning, Associate Dean of International Programs - College of ACES

Paul McNamara, Professor; Director of AgReach and ADMI - Agricultural and Consumer Economic

Matt Stasiwecz, Associate Professor of Applied Food Safety - Food Science and Human Nutrition

Gabriella Nicole Pinto, PhD Student - Food Science and Human Nutrition

2:15-3 pm:

Coffee Break/Ice Cream Social

Winners of Graduate Student Lightning Talks announced

3-5 pm:

From Insight to Action: A Shared Path Forward for Global Food Security at Illinois

This capstone workshop will guide participants through a collaborative process to articulate a shared mission, vision, core values, and explicit commitments for advancing global food security work at Illinois. (For ACES-affiliated attendees.)