On Wednesday, April 6, 2022, the Climate Adaptation Research Center team - with support from the UC Davis World Food Center and the UC Davis Air Quality Research Center - hosted a virtual symposium on Catalyzing Adaptive and Resilient Food Systems. Co-Directors of CARC, including Eric Chu, Grey Monroe, and Erwan Monier, organized and facilitated four educational and insightful panels centered on the topics of Labor, Climate Stressors to Agricultural Systems, Mitigation co-Benefits & Nature-Based Solutions, and Health & Local Communities.

Read more about the Symposium below and watch the full recording, on the CARC youtube channel.

View Full Symposium Recording

Panel 1: Labor 

This session will consider how industries, firms, and labor organizations are addressing projected climate impacts and risks, and what key business and labor innovations are furthering resilience.
Moderated by: Dr. Eric Chu, Co-Director of UC Davis Climate Adaptation Research Center
Speakers:

• Adam Calo, Assistant Professor of Environmental Governance and Politics, Radboud University
• Clare Cannon, Assistant Professor, UC Davis
• Lucas Zucker, Policy and Communications Director, CAUSE

Panel 2: Climate Stressors to Agricultural Systems

Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and magnitude due to climate change, exacerbating temperature extremes, impacting soil and growth conditions of crops. Plant scientists and agronomists are taking steps to ensure a resilient agriculture under these stressors.
Moderated by: Dr. Eric Chu, Co-Director of UC Davis Climate Adaptation Research Center
Speakers: 

• Christine Helen Diepenbrock, Assistant Professor, UC Davis
• Elisabeth Forrestel, Assistant Professor, UC Davis
• Michael Huff, Huff Innovative Technologies Company (HITC)

Panel 3: Mitigation co-Benefits & Nature-Based Solutions

This session will explore ways in which climate mitigation and GHG reduction efforts in agriculture and food systems actively benefit other sectors and what are their co-benefits with adaptation and resilience building efforts.
Moderated by: Grey Monroe, Co-Director of UC Davis Climate Adaptation Research Center
Speakers:

• Sydney Chamberlin, Project Manager, The Nature Conservancy
• Virginia Jameson, Deputy Secretary for Climate and Working Lands, California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)

Panel 4: Health & Local Communities

This session will focus on the ways in which climate change will affect the health of communities employed or adjacent to agricultural industries, strategies to increase health resilience in communities dependent on the agricultural and food sectors and the ways that local communities can be activated and mobilized towards more resilient food systems?
Moderated by: Dr. Erwan Monier, Co-Director of UC Davis Climate Adaptation Research Center
Speakers:

• Catherine Brinkley, Associate Professor, UC Davis
• Christine Tran, Executive Director, Los Angeles Food Policy Council

Read more about the Symposium on the event page here.

Hosted on Wednesday, Apr 6, 2022 from 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM PT
Format: Zoom Webinar, Open to the Public
This event was hosted with support from the UC Davis World Food Center and the UC Davis Air Quality Research Center.