GAINESVILLE, Fla. —

— How do you address all of the issues associated with feeding the world’s estimated 9 billion people by the year 2050? One way is to share great ideas and that’s exactly what more than 700 University of Florida students faculty, community members, industry professionals, and policy makers will be doing Friday at ONE WORLD, an event being held by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Challenge 2050 Project.

Ideas will be shared through innovative think tank discussions and the Solution Six, half a dozen student presenters who were selected from among more than 80 applications and will give TED-like talks on the UF campus. These will be streamed live on the web. It is designed to bring together thinkers to discuss new ideas that might, literally, save the world.

“ONE WORLD is an opportunity to create something of value for our world,” said Tony Andenoro, assistant professor of Leadership Education, Challenge 2050 Project academic director and Leadership Minor coordinator. “Our students are the foundation for innovation and collaboration and ONE WORLD simply creates a forum for our students to engage in both of these as they share their ideas. It is humbling to work with these students and I am so excited to see what amazing things will stem from this event.”

The Solution Six speakers are:

• Nicholas Algozzine, a senior majoring in Food Science and minoring in Leadership;
• Nathan Carson, a senior majoring in Food and Resource Economics and minoring in Business Administration, Agriculture and Natural Resource Law, and Leadership;
• Maggie Hill and and Cassidy Stevens. Hill is a senior majoring in Family, Youth and Community Sciences and minoring in Leadership, while Stevens is a senior majoring in Health Education. They will be leading a team in this talk;
• Jenny McDaniels, a senior majoring in Agricultural Communications and minoring in Leadership;
• Cameron Outlaw, a senior majoring in Political Science and minoring in Spanish, Agricultural Communication, and Leadership;
• And Casey Parker, a master’s student studying Medical and Veterinary Entomology.

The winner of the six talks will receive a grand prize of $1,500 – but students also win with the opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with some of the world’s leading faculty, food scientists, industry professionals, and advocates.

“ONE WORLD is like nothing you have ever seen,” said Jennifer Wert, Challenge 2050 Project Coordinator for Partnerships and Creative Initiatives. “ONE WORLD creates an amazing opportunity to showcase the innovations of our brilliant students and start a conversation about how we all can participant is saving our world. Issues, such as overcrowding, food security, energy, water management, global health, and climate change will be addressed.”

The summit is sponsored by a $10,000 prize awarded to the Challenge 2050 Project by Syngenta Corporation, a global Swiss agribusiness that markets seeds and agrochemicals. The award is a part of the company’s Good Growth Plan, which includes a series of six global commitments aimed at more food, less waste; more biodiversity, less degradation, more health, and less poverty.

The Challenge 2050 Project, is a program at UF which includes the Global Leadership and Change program and innovation student development opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. The program utilizes cutting edge research, leadership strategies, and groundbreaking educational methods to advance ideas across the five major systems that sustain human well-being: food, environmental, economic, social, and health. It I on track to become a certificate program in the fall.

For more information, go to: http://oneworld.challenge2050.org/

By Kimberly Moore Wilmoth, 352-294-3302, k.moore.wilmoth@ufl.edu

Sources: Tony Andenoro, 352-294-1999, andenoro@ufl.edu

Photo Caption: A man checks fertilizer levels on a tractor on a farm. Farm equipment, fertilization, agriculture, food crops. UF/IFAS Photo by Tyler Jones.

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