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Watch a Lightning Talk!

Lightning talks, given by conference registrants, highlight emerging solutions that can be applied to sustainable food systems in extreme environments and/or ongoing efforts by researchers, industry, foundations, and government agencies in this area.

We hope all participants will take some time during the conference to peruse the gallery of talks and watch a few (or more!). Thank you to the 76 people who submitted these creative, informative, and inspiring lightning talks!

A gallery of the talks is watchable below, or you can also find and watch all the videos directly on our YouTube channel.

Please note that these talks have not been screened or edited by the organizers. Conference organizers, sponsors, and partners do not endorse nor take responsibility for the contents of the videos.

Thematic Groupings:

Water management         Food security and food deserts         Sustainable energy production        Workforce development and education         Data modeling and forecasting         Other topics

Water management

Water Management

"Groundwater irrigation management in Bangladesh" - Rebecca Neumann

"Groundwater irrigation management in Bangladesh" - Rebecca Neumann

Lightning Talk: Groundwater irrigation management in Bangladesh: improving food safety and sustainability while mitigating climate change By Rebecca Neumann, Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington Dry season irrigation with groundwater has increased rice production and food security in Bangladesh. However, widespread use of contaminated groundwater is loading hazardous levels of arsenic to rice field soils; arsenic is entering rice plants, decreasing yields and jeopardizing food safety. Additionally, current irrigation practices emit greenhouse gases and are vulnerable to changes in groundwater availability. These issues are exacerbated by the fact that much of the water applied to rice fields is lost down the raised boundaries around field edges (i.e., bunds). Stopping bund water loss is a straightforward way to minimize groundwater abstraction and simultaneously reduce arsenic loading to field soils and emission of greenhouse gases. Three possible solutions exist. Farmers could seal bunds with a material, plow through and rebuild bunds each season, or get rid of bunds by merging nearby fields and collectively cultivating one large combined field. A pilot study focused on sealing bunds with a material demonstrated the practice reduced groundwater use and greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 60% and reduced arsenic loading to field soils by 10 to 40%. The greater savings were associated with smaller fields that have more perimeter or bund exposure to planted field area. *** As part of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Convergence Accelerator Conference for Food Security in Extreme Environments and Food Deserts on 19-21 May 2021, participants submitted lightning talks exploring emerging solutions that can be applied to sustainable food systems in extreme environments and/or ongoing efforts by researchers, industry, foundations, and government agencies in this area. These talks have not been screened or edited by the organizers, and conference organizers, sponsors, and partners do not endorse nor take responsibility for the contents of the videos. For more information about the Conference, visit www.convergentfoodsystems.org.
"Multi-scale solutions in over-exploited aquifer systems" - Itza Mendoza-Sanchez

"Multi-scale solutions in over-exploited aquifer systems" - Itza Mendoza-Sanchez

Lightning Talk: Multi-scale solutions in over-exploited aquifer systems By Itza Mendoza-Sanchez, Assistant Professor, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University In many semi-arid regions, aquifers have watered the Green Revolution vastly increasing food security and economic well-being. As water tables fall, however, rising concentrations of anthropogenic and geogenic contaminants make the water toxic for human consumption. Taking lessons from our work in the State of Guanajuato, Mexico, we describe a framework for a coupled hydrologic-public health-economic model to account for losses and gains incurred by a basin’s residents and stake-holders by various water management and mitigation strategies. Such an accounting model can help inform decisions made by policy makers at all levels and ultimately help curb the over-exploitation of the shared resource by revealing previously hidden feedbacks between pumping, human health, livelihoods, profits and tax revenue. *** As part of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Convergence Accelerator Conference for Food Security in Extreme Environments and Food Deserts on 19-21 May 2021, participants submitted lightning talks exploring emerging solutions that can be applied to sustainable food systems in extreme environments and/or ongoing efforts by researchers, industry, foundations, and government agencies in this area. These talks have not been screened or edited by the organizers, and conference organizers, sponsors, and partners do not endorse nor take responsibility for the contents of the videos. For more information about the Conference, visit www.convergentfoodsystems.org.
"Engineering & applying soft materials for sustainable water management, food security" -Sujit Datta

"Engineering & applying soft materials for sustainable water management, food security" -Sujit Datta

Lightning Talk: Engineering and applying soft materials for sustainable water management and food security By Sujit Datta, Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials In this talk, I describe how we use studies of soft materials -- liquids, gels, colloids, and even cells -- in see-through mimics of soils, sediments, and groundwater aquifers to develop fundamental insights for more sustainable water management and food security. As an example, I highlight our work developing principles to engineer hydrogels for water management in agriculture and low-energy clean water harvesting from atmosphere/polluted water sources. *** As part of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Convergence Accelerator Conference for Food Security in Extreme Environments and Food Deserts on 19-21 May 2021, participants submitted lightning talks exploring emerging solutions that can be applied to sustainable food systems in extreme environments and/or ongoing efforts by researchers, industry, foundations, and government agencies in this area. These talks have not been screened or edited by the organizers, and conference organizers, sponsors, and partners do not endorse nor take responsibility for the contents of the videos. For more information about the Conference, visit www.convergentfoodsystems.org.
Food security

Food Security and Food Deserts