Pamela Ronald has always felt at home around plants -- nurturing them, modifying them, propagating them -- so it seems natural that she is developing new crop varieties. One of her breakthroughs: a strain of flood-resistant rice created through precision breeding, not genetic engineering. The new rice has increased yields three- to fivefold under flood conditions in countries including Bangladesh, India, and Indonesia. The question to ask about a new crop, she says, "is not 'Is it GM?' but 'Can it help food security in less developed nations?' "

Profile

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75

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Environmental Scientist

University of California, Davis

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Ronald Laboratory [4]

Process

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In this presentation for The Long Now Foundation, Ronald looks at radical changes to the agriculture system over the last 10,000 years.

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Inspiration

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Inspiration quotes: 

Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé. I became a vegetarian when I was 16 after reading that book.

Network

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