Dr. Kevin Folta homenageado na cerimônia de premiação de comunicação Borlaug CAST 2016
17 de outubro de 2016 For the seventh year in a row, the winner of the Borlaug CAST Communication Award (BCCA) was honored at a World Food Prize side event, and this year’s recipient — Dr. Kevin Folta — gave a memorable keynote address: Unveiling Our Halo—Building Trust with a Concerned Consumer.
As the Chair of the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Folta conducts research, educates students, and communicates important concepts about science and the public. With a wide following on social media, he participates actively in the public forum about a variety of topics related to agricultural biotechnology. His curriculum vitae is filled with impressive publications, presentations, and awards—including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Award for undergraduate mentoring, and the University of Florida Research Foundation Award.
Recipients of CAST’s annual award are science/ag experts who demonstrate an ability to communicate through written material, public presentations, and various forms of media. Folta’s blog (Illumination) covers recent events at the interface between society and science, and his weekly podcast (Talking Biotech) discusses genetic improvements in agriculture and medicine. He has designed a communication workshop that teaches scientists how to properly engage a skeptical public. According to Dr. Jack Payne of the University of Florida, “Kevin Folta has done as much as anyone in the past decade to help the public understand the biotechnology behind its food.” And many agree with Julie Borlaug Larson’s observation: “He has not shied away from controversial subjects and has often been the number one target of the anti-science movement on behalf of all of us who support biotechnology.”
The honor is presented annually by CAST, and for the fourth year in a row, the award was sponsored by DuPont. Attendees included scientists, journalists, farmers from around the world, and dignitaries such as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and the President of the World Food Prize, Ambassador Kenneth Quinn. Two previous BCCA winners also joined the gathering—2015 recipient Channapatna Prakash, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Tuskegee University, and 2010 winner Akin Adesina, President of the African Development Bank.
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