Keeping plant disease at bay – The Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust Public Science Evening

The School of Life Sciences is proud to host another free Public Science evening on the 7^th February 2017. Our ability to grow plants productively is under severe and increasing threat from climate change. Increasing global temperatures could decrease the amount of food on our shelves, leading to global food shortages of our favorite products such as beans. These rising temperatures may also lead to the spread of harmful plant diseases that destroy our crops and threaten farmer’s livelihoods. Discover how our research, which covers weeds and crops through to trees and even includes bananas, strives to understand and mitigate these threats to ensure that we can feed ourselves in the future. Interesting demonstrations and talks will explain how we keep our food secure via pest management, pollinators, and whole plant imaging. The evening will be hosted by Professor Murray Grant who took up the role of Elizabeth Creak Chair in Food Security in June 2016. Professor Grant’s post has been funded by The Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust, which was established in memory of Elizabeth Creak - a highly capable and well respected farmer who brought many creative ideas to the world of farming.

Professor Murray Grant said “Warwick Crop Centre based at Wellesbourne, close to the original farm of Elizabeth Creak, provides the unique ability for translating findings from the lab into the field.”

 

Registration to attend is now open. All are welcome, and we are especially keen to see alumni and members of the local community attend. This event follows on from our previous highly successful Public Science events ‘A healthy brain for a healthy life’, ‘Getting to grips with antibiotic resistance’ and ‘The Fly Room’. This event is free to attend and will start at 18:00 and end at 20:00.