As the population grows, our society will face many large and complex issues. Among a variety of issues, there are several that the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is perfectly poised to address. We have identified these grand challenges to be:
- Feeding Our World
- Protecting Our Environment
- Improving Our Health
- Enriching Our Youth
- Growing Our Economy
All of these challenges are interconnected and universal. No solitary discipline can solve them all, which is why we have decided to create a series of events intended to spark meaningful conversations across multiple disciplines. The events will ask each of us to define the grand challenges. What are the issues? What areas of expertise or strength do we have? How do our strengths guide us? What problems might we encounter? What resources are needed? What are the steps to move forward?
The first in this series of events was the 2013 Texas A&M AgriLife Conference. Then, throughout the spring semester, several guest speakers will join us as part of the Blue Bell Lecture Series, which began in fall 2012. And finally, we will be hosting small group discussions to help refine our efforts in an open forum.
2013 Texas A&M AgriLife Conference
At the conference, more than 100 attendees split up into small groups to discuss each of the five grand challenges. Each group was asked to define the issues and brainstorm areas of strength and opportunity, as well as potential problems. The conversations could have continued for much longer, but the sessions were restricted to just one hour. To learn more about each of these or to find out how to get involved, please contact the Dean’s Office.
- Feeding Our World
Facilitator Chris Skaggs, Associate Dean - Protecting Our Environment
Facilitator David Reed, Associate Dean - Improving Our Health
Facilitator Kim Dooley, Associate Dean - Enriching Our Youth
Facilitator Danielle Harris, Assistant Dean - Growing Our Economy
Facilitator Alan Sams, Executive Associate Dean
Blue Bell Lecture Series
The Blue Bell Lecture Series gives us an external perspective on what we do and how we can uniquely approach the grand challenges. Each lecture is designed to give us context and encourage discussion about how we will participate in the solution. We invite you to learn more about previous Blue Bell Lectures and check for announcements about upcoming events.
Grand Challenge Discussions
There are many ways we can approach the grand challenges – specifically, how do we underpin existing programs? What programs might be needed? Where should we focus funding? Are there strategic hires we should encourage? There are many questions like these and more that will take our ideas and discussions and put them into action. Each of these sessions will be facilitated by the Dean’s Office, as listed above. Please keep an eye out for emails and website updates announcing these sessions.
Mark A. Hussey, Ph.D
Vice Chancellor and Dean
Agriculture and Life Sciences
