Welcome to the Coffee Break Seminars. This is a relaxed online learning and discussion platform for our food security community. Talks take place every Friday during term time at 2.30 pm, GMT.
The next seminar is on 18 June at 2.30 pm, GMT. Hamish Symington (Plant Sciences): How improving flowers can help us feed the world and ensure biodiversity.
Crops have historically been bred for disease resistance, shelf life, yield and so on, without any regard for pollinator-relevant traits - quite an omission when around a third of the food we eat is dependent to some extent on animal pollination. A rising world population means we’ll need more food in the years to come but general insect declines are the exact opposite of what we want. While zoologists and ecologists are trying to find ways of reversing the insect decline, Hamish is investigating the characteristics of strawberry flowers and asking bees what they think about them, to help produce plants which are easier for insects to find and optimally rewarding for those visitors.
Please find more on this series HERE.
Please join our Zoom meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85859730240
Meeting ID: 858 5973 0240
Passcode: 564953
Image: pixabay.com
