"Together We'll Go FFAR: Paving the Way for Improved Nutrition and
Sustainable Agriculture”
Sally Rockey
Executive Director, Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR)
Tuesday, October 12, 9:30am-10:00am ET
Bio: Dr. Sally Rockey became the inaugural Executive Director of the
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) in September 2015. Prior to
this role, Dr. Rockey was an award-winning leader in Federal research,
overseeing the operations of the extramural programs in both agriculture and
biomedicine. She spent 19 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
where she held a number of positions within the Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service. Very early
in her career she became the head of the competitive grants program, overseeing
the extramural grants process and portfolio. In her final years with USDA she
was the Chief Information Officer, applying her breadth of government knowledge
to information technology. She brought
her experience in agriculture research to her 11-year career at the National
Institutes of Health, where she emphasized the connection between agriculture,
food, and health. As Deputy Director for Extramural Research, Dr. Rockey
oversaw the operations of the largest Federal extramural research program and
led groundbreaking initiatives and activities that have and will have a lasting
positive impact on the research community.
Dr.
Rockey received her Ph.D. in Entomology from the Ohio State University and did
postgraduate work at University of Wisconsin prior to joining the
government. She has devoted her career
to improving people’s lives through research and will continue her mission by
seeing FFAR become an essential component of the scientific enterprise.
CIDA hosts an annual research-oriented
workshop to help drive thought and research around Digital Agriculture and the
future of our agri-food systems. The workshop showcases projects awarded
through our Research Innovation Fund (RIF) which provides seed grant funding to
innovative, cutting-edge interdisciplinary research from Cornell faculty and
students. Researchers and students from the Colleges of Engineering, Life and
Agriculture Sciences, Business, Veterinary Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and
Computing and Information Science participate in this cross-college initiative.
Speakers from academia, industry, non-profits, and diverse private sector
enterprises provide unique perspective and vibrant discussion around annual
themes.