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  • Global Development
  • Department of Global Development
  • Agriculture & Food Systems

Perspectives in Global Development Seminar Series: Fall 2021

Dr. Sara Boettiger will discuss lessons learned about past agricultural transformations in LMICs that drove mass poverty reduction, improvements in food security, and agriculture-led economic growth. She will then highlight the ways in which we are currently in a  different era, requiring new tradeoffs and tools to drive economic development in LMICs. In particular, the roles for the private sector are critical, and they are accompanied by increasing incentives for private sector engagement in agricultural transformation.

About the speaker

Dr. Sara Boettiger serves as Head of Global Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability for the Crop Science division of Bayer. In this role, she is a member of the Crop Science Executive Leadership Team and the Corporate Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability Leadership Team. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Boettiger collaborates with key partners to identify solutions to the challenges faced by farmers and the environment, finds common ground with stakeholders and critics, and expands Bayer’s sustainability efforts.

Boettiger is passionate about our generational responsibility to create a more sustainable global agri-food system for the future. Prior to joining Bayer, Boettiger was a Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Co. where she co-led the McKinsey Center for Agricultural Transformation. This included working with governments and companies to tackle global hunger and malnutrition, improve the lives of smallholder farmers, and address climate change.

Boettiger has also served as Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Senior Advisor at Syngenta Foundation; faculty fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society; Chair of the Board of Trustees of the international ag research institute CIMMYT; advisor to the satellite company Planet Labs; and member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils. Additionally, she taught agricultural economics at University of California, Berkeley; co-founded several non-profits; and co-led the development of a pioneering ag-biotech patent pool.

Boettiger has 18 years of experience working on agriculture and food systems around the world. She has worked across a wide range of topics, including corporate sustainability, climate change risk, smallholder farming systems, digital agriculture, agricultural policy, and intellectual property rights. Boettiger holds a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Registration information

The speaker will present via Zoom. Guests are welcomed to join the session in-person in Emerson 135 or via Zoom. To attend via Zoom, use the registration link below.

About the seminar series

The Perspectives in Global Development seminars are held Wednesdays from 12:25 – 1:15 p.m. eastern time during the semester. The series will be presented in a hybrid format with some speakers on campus and others appearing via Zoom. Students, faculty and the general public are welcome to attend. The series is co-sponsored by the Department of Global Development, the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the School of Integrative Plant Science as part of courses IARD 6960NTRES 6960PLSCS 6960 and AEM 6960. 

Sara Boettiger headshot

More information about this event.

Contact Information

Jeff Kangacha

  • jnk62 [at] cornell.edu

Speaker

Sara Boettiger, Head of Global Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability, Senior Vice President, Crop Science Division

Departments

Department of Global Development

Natural Resources and the Environment

School of Integrative Plant Science

Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

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