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November 25, 2021   •   News

A recording of the November 2021 Feed & Nutrition Network Webinar, titled “Mitigating Enteric Methane – the Global Network & the Methane Flagship projects”, is now available to view.

This webinar session was facilitated by the FNN Network lead André Bannink and chaired by LRG co-Chair Sinead Waters.

It included presentations from Claudia Arndt (International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya), David Yanez-Ruiz (Estación Experimental del Zaidín (CSIC), Spain) and Alejandro Belanche (University of Zaragoza, Spain), Guilhermo de S. Congio (University of São Paulo, Brazil) and Juan Boo Liang (University Putra, Malaysia).

The agenda is shown below.

November 17, 2021   •   News

A recording of the November 2021 GRA COP26 side event titled “Contemplating the Co-Benefits: An exploration of their evidence-base to accelerate climate action”, is now available to view HERE.

This online event was hosted by Australia as Chair of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases and features a welcome and introduction from Professor Andrew Campbell, CEO ACIAR and Chair of the GRA. Hayden Montgomery, GRA Special Representative presents the work of the GRA as it relates to the topic of adaptation and mitigation co-benefits. Plus we hear from three speakers from across the globe working with the GRA to highlight the value that recognising co-benefits can bring.

Speakers:
Andrew Campbell, CEO ACIAR and GRA Chair
Hayden Montgomery, GRA Special Representative
Natalie Doran-Browne, University of Melbourne
Viviana Becerra Velásquez, INIA Chile
Cynthia Rosenzweig , Goddard Institute for Space Studies

November 11, 2021   •   News

The 2021 meeting of the Livestock Research Group was held over two online sessions on 6 – 7 October.

The meeting was attended by participants from 43 countries and four partner organisations. The meeting report and recordings of the online sessions are now available for download.

November 4, 2021   •   News

A recording of the October 2021 Farm To Regional Scale Integration Network Webinar, titled “Economic analysis of Climate Change – marginal abatement costs”, is now available to view.

This webinar session was facilitated by the FRS Network co-leads and included presentations from Prof. Gary Lanigan (Teagasc, Ireland), Dr. Titus Apdini (Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands) and Prof. John Antle (Oregon State University, USA. The agenda is shown below.

October 28, 2021   •   News

The call for applications for science slammers at the 2022 “Think Aloud! GFFA Science Slam” is currently open. Interested in participating? Register HERE by 5 November 2021.

What is the GFFA?
From 24 to 28 January 2022, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) will host the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) for the 14th time.

The GFFA is the world’s leading international conference on key issues regarding the future of the global agri-food industry. The 14th GFFA will focus on the topic “Sustainable Land Use: Food Security Starts with the Soil”.

What is the “Think Aloud! GFFA Science Slam”?
The “Think Aloud! GFFA Science Slam” is a competition during which presenters (“slammers”) introduce their scientific research topics, which should match the GFFA topic, in an entertaining way. The focus is on giving a diverse, primarily non-expert audience the opportunity to learn about scientific concepts. The audience then judges the slams by voting. In addition to scientific aspects, the audience rates the comprehensibility and the entertainment value of the presentations. The presentation that is rated highest by the audience is awarded a prize at the end of the event.

All presentations should address at least one of the following four GFFA issues on the topic of “Sustainable Land Use: Food Security Starts with the Soil”:
1. How can we improve soil protection?
2. How can we restore degraded soils?
3. How can we make the use of finite land resources more sustainable?
4. How can farmers worldwide get fair access to land? 

For further information on this topic, please refer to the attached background paper.

For more information about the event format, selection criteria and timeline, click HERE.

October 18, 2021   •   News

DAAD climapAfrica: Africans in climate research | Deadline 17 November 2021

We would like to make you aware of a call for applications for postdoctoral fellowships for Africans in climate research by the German Academic Exchange Service. The call for application ends on 17 November 2021.

The DAAD Climate research Alumni and Postdocs in Africa (climapAfrica) program brings together high-potential African researchers in climate change research and protection with African alumni experts of German funding initiatives in the field of climate research. Through currently seven thematic working groups, it seeks to catalyse uptake and use of research outputs through a vibrant, highly connected network to facilitate the development of regional solutions.

The DAAD climapAfrica program offers the following benefits:

Attractive funding scheme

  • Postdoctoral fellowship (12 months)
  • Funding for research stays in Germany (2-6 months)
  • Funding for international conference participations

Advance your research with leading experts

  • Benefit from knowledge and expertise of Alumni in your field
    through working groups
  • Benefit from distinguished supervision
  • Get guidance from German mentors

Become part of a growing community of climate researchers and experts

  • Broaden your network through the climapAfrica thematic working
    groups and climapAfrica conferences

Improve your skills through a targeted training program

  • Increase your research impact through capacity-buildings in
    science policy advising and skills training

Apply now online via DAAD scholarship website.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Research Center for Global Food Security and Ecosystems or to the DAAD directly via [email protected] if you have any additional questions.

Further information here.

July 26, 2021   •   News

Full Professor and Chair of the Animal Production Systems Group

Wageningen University & Research is recruiting a full professor to lead the chair group of Animal Production Systems (APS).

As head of the APS group, you will lead a vibrant team of researchers and lecturers. You will support our group’s research ambitions by further strengthening its position in national and international networks, by consolidating established research lines as well as developing new lines of research. You will actively contribute to the excellent reputation and position of WUR in higher education through your active role in our current education programme and in the ongoing development of courses at bachelor, master and PhD level.

You will provide an encouraging working and learning environment for academics at different career stages. Strengthening the acquisition of external funding for research and recruiting the best new people at all levels are key elements of the chair holder’s responsibility. In addition to that, it is key to further improve the group’s successes in generating scientific and societal impact, and lead the group in the further development of an internationally competitive research profile in which you embed your own lines of research that are complementary to APS’ current research topics.
You are a scientist with broad interest and expertise that will strengthen and extend the future education and research of APS. Furthermore, you have demonstrated the capacity needed to become an internationally recognized leader in this field and to build multi-stakeholder networks in systems research and agri-food sustainability.

The closing date of the vacancy is August 8, 2021. 

To read the full application and to submit your application download the job description below and visit the WUR vacancy website.

July 19, 2021   •   News

GRA researchers are invited to submit an abstract for the MAC-B session organised by GRA Partners AgMIP at the AGU Fall Meeting (13-17 December 2021, New Orleans, LA, US and online).

Session Title: GC026. Co-Benefits and Tradeoffs from Combined Mitigation and Adaptation in Agriculture 

Section: Global Environmental Change 

Session ID: 120744  

Link: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/prelim.cgi/Session/120744

Deadline: Wednesday, 4 August 2021 at 23:59 EDT

Description: Research at the nexus of climate mitigation and climate adaptation in agriculture remains challenging owing to both data and modeling limitations, as well as the multi-scale analyses and stakeholder engagement required. Nevertheless, as climate change intensifies, there is an urgent need to close these research gaps and rigorously assess how simultaneously implementing agricultural adaptation and mitigation interventions could provide valuable co-benefits and/or create trade-offs for food security, environmental conservation, and other important societal challenges. This session invites research papers on agricultural mitigation and adaptation co-benefits and trade-offs, particularly those that introduce data and model tools and approaches needed for evaluation; feature regional projects and perspectives; and provide empirical bases to assess multiple dimensions of societal impacts (e.g., food security, labor and gender, biodiversity, etc.). We encourage submissions representing a variety of disciplines, and in particular cross-disciplinary perspectives on these issues.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions ([email protected]).

Cheers,

Sonali McDermid, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Roberto Valdivia, and Erik Mencos

July 19, 2021   •   News

The June 2021 Croplands Research Group Newsletter is now available! In this edition you can find a link to the recent webinar recording on Full inversion tillage – to sequester soil carbon and reduce N2O losses in New Zealand, a project in Argentina to develop sustainable forestry, the FOODLEVERS project on organic and sustainable food systems in Europe and much more!

July 2, 2021   •   News

The 2021 meeting of the Integrative Research Group was held over four online sessions 24-25 June.

The meeting objective was to bring together members to discuss:

1. the contributions and progress countries are making on initiatives relevant to the work of the IRG networks/topics (country reports).

2. activities that networks are undertaking and identify opportunities for networks and countries (government, institutions and experts) to collaborate (network reports, project reports).

3. ideas for developing the IRG workplan and how our work can have the most impact (discussion).

The meeting was attended by participants from 22 countries and four partner organisations. Recordings of the online meeting and presentations from the sessions are now available for download.

June 21, 2021   •   News

On the 2nd and 3rd June 2021 the Inventories and Nationally Determined Contributions Network held two virtual meetings. The purpose of the meetings was to increase the visibility of international collaborative efforts with presentations by international research partners on inventory research and capability building initiatives, followed by a facilitated discussion. 

There were presentations from the AFOLU IPCC-TFI TSU, The US EPA, FAO-Enhanced Transparency Framework Network, GHGMI, ACIAR, NZAGRC and the Modeling and Inventory Development Subgroup of the Low Carbon Livestock Research Network. 

Collectively, the meetings were attended by nearly 60 participants from Africa, Europe, North American, ASEAN and LAC countries with diverse backgrounds in Inventory compilation, research and development and international collaboration.

Some key themes emerged during the discussion session in both meetings following the presentations. Firstly, international multi-partner collaboration will ensure we avoid any duplication of work. Participants discussed the importance of inventory frameworks such as institutional Arrangements and having a clear inventory structure both for personnel and data management. Identifying and addressing inventory capacity gaps is a focus for all research partners and avoiding outsourcing resources and ensuring regional institutions are supported to develop inventory capacity is crucial.

The meeting report, summary of each presentation and the meeting recordings are now available.

June 18, 2021   •   News

Focusing around “HoloRuminant: Ruminant microbiomes and sustainable production”, this funded scholarship is now accepting applications until the 9th of July. Applicants should have a primary degree or M.Sc. in an appropriate discipline, proficiency in the English language and be prepared for both laboratory and field work (as well as having a full EU driving license). Further information can be found on the flyer below: