14 OregonStater.org PHOTO BY KARL MAASDAM, ’93 VO I C E S ence and computation, plus new research on plant genomics, technologies like CRISPR and so much more. So much is tied to basic scientific research and the translation of this work into the food world. Land-grant universities have always linked practical needs like food with innovation. How do you see that connection today? For us, the use of AI and robotics in food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries is a natural connection. There’s lots of work being done on the use of AI in precision farming, controlling precisely how much water and fertilizer you need, so that you’re not polluting the environment while doing very important agricultural work. And I should also mention the use of AI in predicting an evolving climate and addressing that evolution in the kinds of crops you plant and the ways in which you’re going to irrigate them. All of those things are now tied to the use of AI in making long-term predictions about the evolution of our farms and our forests and in helping our farmers adapt. How does experiential learning like the Beaver Classic Creamery help prepare OSU students for success? The thing that I’m realizing about agriculture, and this is also true of other things that we teach — for example, engineering or forestry — is that these are intensely practical fields, right? You’re absolutely teaching students science.You’re teaching them biochemistry, biology, soil science — all of the basics. But at the end of the day, these young people are going to go work in the food industry, and, therefore, taking the science that they’ve learned in the classroom and applying it is going to be very much a part of what they do as employees. Creating that pathway early as a part of their curriculum is a big part of the OSU ethos.That’s just the philosophy with which we teach. FOOD FOR THOUGHT PRESIDENT JAYATHI MURTHY ON AGRICULTURE, INNOVATION AND OSU’S LAND-GRANT MISSION IN ACTION. As told to Scholle McFarland Why is the food and beverage industry important to Oregon State? As a land-grant university, Oregon State was explicitly set up to build connections to the agricultural sector — and forestry and fisheries — and to transfer knowledge from research into practice. Of course, the original conception was to help with mechanical machinery, with fertilizers, new kinds of crop strains and things like that, but food today is more than that. Now there are connections to communities, ties to sustainability and climate change, ties to nutrition and health, economics, business, and so much else that rides on the food ecosystem. Oregon State is a part of all of those things. And then of course there is the emerging tie to technology, data and data sci- ↑ President Murthy with (left to right) Dhaval Bhakta, Sindhura Karuturi and Staci Simonich, dean for the College of Agricultural Sciences, at the reopening of Withycombe Hall. Follow President Murthy on LinkedIn.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTcxMjMwNg==