Systematizing links between food security and biodiversity conservation through citizen science

Systematizing links between food security and biodiversity conservation through citizen science

Project Team

Hannah Wittman, Professor, Academic Director, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Faculty of Land and Food Systems; Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (Co-PI)

Loren Rieseberg, Professor, Biodiversity Research Centre, Department of Botany (Co-PI)

Matthew Mitchell, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (PI)

Funding

Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies: International Research Roundtable

 

About the Project

Two of the most pressing challenges of the twenty-first century are to improve global food security and more effectively conserve biodiversity. Tied to the progress the Diversified Agroecosystem Research Cluster (DARC) is making, this project hopes to bring in more international collaborators to specifically address the connection between biodiversity and food security by utilizing citizen science and agrobiodiversity monitoring. A symposium that is to be hosted in June 2019 will bring together Canadian and world-renowned researchers, practitioners and policy leaders on agroecosystems and biodiversity, food security, citizen science and grassroots technology. This timely and critical endeavor will inform current global efforts such as the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

 

Banner Photo Credit: Martin Dee