Shahid Naeem – From Forager to Farmer in 200,000 Years: An Environmental Sustainability Perspective Lunch Discussion

513 Fayerweather Hall, Columbia University
1180 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 

Led by Shahid Naeem, Co-Director of the Environmental Sciences and Humanities Research Cluster, Director of Science at the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability, and Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology at Columbia University

Please join us for a lunchtime discussion organized by the Environmental Science and Humanities Research Cluster exploring agro-food systems. The interaction between an organism and its environment, be it plant, animal, or microorganism, goes both ways as living things are influenced by and influence their surroundings. An under-examined concept is niche construction, or how organisms create environments for themselves like a den, reef, or hive. Farming is the most extraordinary example of this in the biological world. We will explore how niche construction, as a scientific principle, might bring together social, humanist, and agro-scientific perspectives to shed light on issues of sustainable food and farming.

Free and open to Columbia University students, staff, faculty, and affiliates. Lunch will be provided.

RSVP required as space is limited; please email Roshana Nabi at [email protected]