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News -- 2001-2003
Safety First Initiative featured on Minnesota Public Radio's Mid-Morning, June 6, 2003 with Director Anne Kapuscinski and Associate Director Lawrence Jacobs
To listen to the archived audio file, visit http://news.mpr.org/programs/midmorning/
ISEES International Organic Aquaculture Workshop and Organic Seafood Tasting Tour a Success
The workshop, held July 11-12, 2003 in Minneapolis, focused on evaluating low-food-chain finfish and shellfish that are promising candidates for sustainable, and especially organic, aquaculture production. Workshop participants discussed marketing, policy, and educational aspects of these species. This workshop was sponsored by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, Whole Foods Market, MN SeaGrant, University of Minnesota, Culinary Arts Program of the Art Institutes International Minnesota, and Co-op Partners Warehouse. For additional details about the workshop, click here.
The Organic Seafood Tasting Tour, co-hosted by the Art Institutes International Minnesota, featured the culinary talents of four award-winning chefs -- Vincent Francoual (Vincent a Restaurant), Rick Kimmes (Oceanaire), Brenda Langton (Cafe Brenda), and Alex Roberts (Restaurant Alma) -- as they delighted workshop participants with seafood dishes highlighting low-food-chain fish and shellfish that are promising candidates for organic aquaculture production. For additional information about the Organic Seafod Tasting Tour, click here.
Safety First Initiative Featured in Nature Biotechnology
The Safety First Initiative of ISEES' Biotechnology Governance Program is featured in the June edition of Nature Biotechnology (21 (6)). The commentary piece, "Making 'safety first' a reality for biotechnology products", describes the formation of working groups to set standards for building human and environmental safety into the entire development process for two classes of genetically modified organisms (GMOs): fish modified for fast growth and plants modified to produce pharmaceuticals. To read the University of Minnesota press release, click here.
ISEES to Develop Briefing Paper on Biotechnology in Developing World with Oxfam America
ISEES will be working in collaboration with Oxfam America stakeholders, to develop a briefing paper on biotechnology in the developing world which is grounded upon and fulfills Oxfam America’s missions and goals. Emily Pullins, Post-Doctoral Research Associate at ISEES, will be working with Director Anne Kapuscinski in this research effort during the Summer, 2003.
Associate Director Co-Authors Report to the Ford Foundation
Associate Director Larry Jacobs' report, "The Public Management of Market Forces: Why 'Alternatives to Government' Make Government Grow," details the need for a new synthesis of government and private markets.
Associate Director Appointed to American Political Science Association Task Force
Associate Director Larry Jacobs has been appointed to the APSA's Task Force on Inequality and American Democracy. The purpose of the Task Force is to add to the considerable research by political scientists to the growing national discussion about the relationships between growing economic inequality and American democracy--the impact of changing patterns of inequalities on democratic participation and governance as well as the influence of government policy on various dimensions of inequalities.
ISEES Student Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Awards
Ozge Goktepe from the College of Biological Sciences and Jennifer Dippel from the College of Natural Resources both received prestigious Undergraduate Research Opportunities program awards to undertake projects managed at ISEES. Ms. Dippel will be working on a report about a project to archive historically important films and photographs of wildlife at the Bell Museum of Natural History. Ms. Goktepe will be working on mathematical modeling underpinning the net fitness methodology used for risk assessment of genetically engineered organisms.
ISEES Director and Program Manager Author Encyclopedia Entries
ISEES Post-Doctoral Research Associate Emily Pullins and Director Anne Kapuscinski have authored pieces for the upcoming publication of Encyclopedia of Plant and Crop Science (R.M. Goodman, ed. New York, NY: Dekker.). Topics addressed in their pieces include ‘Expanding Biosafety Definitions for Application in Plant Sciences’ and ‘Biosafety Programs for Genetically Engineered Plants: An Adaptive Approach’. Dr. Pullins served as Topical Editor for a section in the Encyclopedia on Biosafety.
ISEES Co-Sponsors Wildlife Film Festival: A Day of Wildlife in Film and Video
As part of the Wildlife in Film course (FWCB 1901 Section 2), ISEES co-sponsored a day of Wildlife in Film and Video on April 26, 2002, at the Bell Museum of Natural History. A unique feature of this film event was the presentation of wildlife films from both historical and contemporary eras. In the first half of the event, we presented nationally renowned films from the Bell Museum archives, recently restored through a prestigious award by the National Film Preservation Board. After a presentation by author Gregg Mitman, a selection of award-winning contemporary documentaries from the renowned International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF) were presented.
Eighty people attended the event, including Walter Breckenridge, the second director of the Bell Museum. Students from the course prepared short introductions of the films for the festival. We are grateful to have sponsored the last event that Dr. Breckenridge attended at the University of Minnesota before his passing May 22, 2003 – featuring a showing of his original films, now preserved as national treasures.
ISEES Director Featured at Great Conversations
ISEES Director and UM professor Dr. Anne Kapuscinski was featured in the University of Minnesota's Great Conversations public event series with Margaret Mellon, one of the nation's most respected experts on biotechnology and food safety. This event was part of the College of Natural Resources' Centennial Series of events.
ISEES Up-Coming Publications
ISEES community members have authored two new publications related to Sustainability Studies, due out this year.
Based on the success of the Passport to Earth Summit series, a collaborative group of nine students and staff authored, "Passport to Earth Summit: A Case Study in Exploring Sustainable Development at the University of Minnesota," a peer-reviewed manuscript was published Summer, 2003 in the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (volume 4, number 3. pages 239-249.)
ISEES Post-Doctoral Research Associate Emily Pullins was invited to develop a book review for Environmental Conservation: The International Journal of Environmental Science, on Simon Dresner's new book, The Principles of Sustainability. The review will be published in the September 2003 edition.
ISEES Director Invited to Serve on CGIAR
ISEES Director Anne Kapuscinski has been invited to serve on the CGIAR, Study Panel on Safe Use of Gene Technology and its Products. The Panel is producing a report analyzing the current biosafety approaches of all CGIAR Centers. The Study Panel was commissioned by the Interim Science Council of the CGIAR.
ISEES Director Releases Marine Biotechnology Briefs online
The Marine Biotechnology Briefs serve to encourage a broader understanding of the development of marine genetically engineered organisms (GEOs) and other forms of marine biotechnology, the marine conservation implications of this technology, relevant policies focusing on environmental biosafety, and options for improving the effectiveness of the governance of this technology.
Brief One, "Marine GEOs: Products in the Pipeline", is now available online at www.fw.umn.edu/isees/MarineBrief/1/brief1.htm
Associate Director Larry Jacobs has been named Political Analyst for WCCO News (Channel 4).
Thanks to all organizers and participants for making the Campus Sustainability Summit a success!
Stay tuned for updates on our report to the University Administration on the University's sustainability. For background information on the Summit's schedule, speakers, and content, visit www.fw.umn.edu/isees/CSS/css.htm
ISEES Program Manager Co-Authors UN/FAO Chapter
Deborah Brister (Sustainable Aquaculture Program Manager) and international aquaculture expert Albert Tacon co-authored an organic aquaculture chapter in a new book, Organic Agriculture, Environment and Food Security (click here for abstract). The book is published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UN/FAO). Read Brister and Tacon's chapter, "Organic Aquaculture-Current Status and Future Prospects" here. To read the rest of the book, click here.
Spring 2003 Courses Online
Two courses co-sponsored by the Institute are online. Biosafety Science and Policy (NRES 5482) provides a review of the latest science and political aspects to this burgeoning new field to advanced students. Creature Features: Wildlife in Film (FW 1901 Sec. 2) is a freshman seminar that explores the various ways in which the art of filmmaking and the science of wildlife studies are related, the role of film in wildlife research and education, and the collaborations of wildlife scientists and artists in conversation with the public about wildlife issues.
Safety First Initiative Report
The final report from our April 22, 2002 meeting is now available as a PDF file
ISEES Director and Program Manager Receive Packard Award
Anne Kapuscinski and Deborah Brister were awarded a Packard Grant for their proposal, Organic Aquaculture Practices and Policy: Building Blocks for Environmentally Responsible Aquaculture. To build on their activities in organic aquaculture, ISEES convened the International Organic Aquaculture Workshop: Low-Food-Chain Candidate Species workshop in July, 2003. The workshop analyzed aquaculture species that do not require fishmeal and oil in their diets by evaluating a broad diversity of species for their suitability to organic and sustainable aquaculture.
ISEES Director Appointed to UN Advisory Role
Anne Kapuscinski was appointed to the UN's Global Environmental Facility's (GEF) Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP). Dr. Kapuscinski brings expertise on biosafety issues to the STAP.
STAP acts as an independent, advisory body to the GEF, providing objective, strategic scientific and technical advice on GEF policies, which focus mainly on protection of biological diversity; the reduction of greenhouse gases; the protection of international waters; and, the protection of the ozone layer.
ISEES Program Manager Presented Seafood Ecolabeling Paper at Interational Conference
Deborah Brister (Sustainable Aquaculture Program Manager) presented her paper, Assessing Ecolabeling Standards for Seafood: How do They Measure Up? at this year's Conference on Ecolabels and the Greening of the Food Market. Link to Deborah's abstract here.
For more information on the conference, which took place in Boston, November 7-9, 2002, visit http://nutrition.tufts.edu/conted/ecolabels or see the attached announcement (PDF file)
ISEES Reading Group on Food Politics
Meetings of the reading group on food politics have concluded. For information regarding past meetings, including book titles, discussion questions, and background information on authors, please visit
http://www.fw.umn.edu/isees/readgrp.htm
Thanks to all who made the Passport to Earth Summit 2002: Exploring Sustainable Development series a success!
ISEES thanks all co-sponsors, volunteers, participants, and audience members for making this series so productive and engaging. For series information, please visit the series' webpage at http://www.coffman.umn.edu/earth
ISEES Director and Scholar receive US AID award
Anne Kapuscinski, Wansuk Senanan, and collaborators were awarded one of five nation-wide grants by US AID for their proposal, Thailand Transgenic Fish and Biodiversity Program: Risk Assessment Research and Capacity Building, a four-year project.The Thailand Transgenic Fish and Biodiversity Program will generate the first scientific data on potential safety or risk to biodiversity of introducing growth-enhanced transgenic tilapia. The Thai government has discouraged several inquiries to introduce such fish partly due to lack of case-specific risk assessment data and insufficient national capacity to evaluate and regulate genetically engineered organisms. To address these concerns, Kapuscinski and Senanan will quantify the likelihood of gene flow from transgenic to feral tilapia and assess gene flow consequences by measuring if transgenic individuals, compared to feral tilapia, pose lower, equal or higher risk to native fish species through food competition.
They will also build capacity among scientists, regulators, and environmental leaders of Thailand and neighboring countries in science-based risk assessment and management of genetically engineered organisms. Outcomes will enhance Thailand's role as a regional biotech and biosafety leader with the capacity to share scientific and regulatory expertise and information with other nations.
Director and ISEES' Safety First Initiative featured in MN Sea Grant Seiche feature stories
Kapuscinski Honored with World's Preeminent Marine Conservation Award http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/seiche/dec.01/art03.html'Safety First' for Genetically Modified Organisms
http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/seiche/dec.01/art01.html
Director interviewed about Safety First Initiative by Washington Fax
Minnesota group's industry safety program for genetically modified foods is creating consensus among adversaries, published October 11, 2001.
Safety First Workshop Final Report
The final report from our March 2-3, 2001 workshop is now available online as a Word Document or pdf file
Finding Food in Farm Country
A research report by Ken Meter and Jon Rosales
Press Release
Finding Food in Farm Country report (.pdf file)
Order hard copy of report
Ken Meter's U.S. Senate testimony (August 20, 2001)
Director speaks at Gene Media Forum Event
Announcement (Mar. 25, 2001)
Transcript
Online video file
Director speaks at Governing GMOs
University of Minnesota
Consortium on Law, Health and the Life Sciences
Panel discussion, high bandwidth
Panel discussion, low bandwidth
Director's 2001 Pew Marine Fellowship Award
Announcement
Associate Director's 2000-2001 Book Awards
Goldsmith Book Award
MN Daily story (Feb. 13, 2001)
Award AnnouncementDistinguished Scholarly Publication Award (American Sociological Association)
Award AnnouncementRichard E. Neustadt Award (American Political Science Association's Presidency Research Award)
Award Announcement