KNOXVILLE — Forbes Walker, associate professor of biosystems engineering and soil science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will deliver this week’s UT Science Forum lecture, “Developing Conservation Agriculture Systems in Africa.” His talk will begin at noon on Friday, April 23, in Thompson-Boling Arena Dining Room C-D.
The UT Science Forum is a weekly event where leading science researchers share their discoveries and discuss the frontiers of their fields in a way that the general public can understand.
UT Science Forum programs are free and open to the public. Attendees are welcome to bring their lunches or purchase lunch at the Café at the Arena.
For three years, Walker and other UT faculty members have been working with people in Lesotho in southern Africa to develop conservation agriculture cropping systems for small-holder farmers.
“We believe we can not only increase agricultural productivity,” Walker said, “but also have significant environmental benefits from reduced erosion. We were awarded a grant from USDA and will receive another that will enable us to continue work for five more years and expand the focus to Malawi and Mozambique.”
Walker will explain the collaboration and talk about developing the agricultural farming system. The team also plans to establish an experimental learning program for research, teaching and extension faculty and students from Tennessee to visit Lesotho.
The UT Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research. The final presentation of the semester will be on April 30 when Suzanne Lenhart, professor of mathematics, talks about “The Power of Optimal Control: From Confining Rabies to Improving CPR.”
For questions about the UT Science Forum, contact Mark Littmann, littmann@utk.edu or 974-8156, or Mike Clark, clarkgmorph@utk.edu or 974-6006.
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C O N T A C T :
Bridget Hardy (865-974-2225, bhardy4@utk.edu)