2021 CIDA Workshop_Sally Rockey-"Together We'll Go FFAR: Paving the Way for Improved Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture"

"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.