FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2017

Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Marilyn Wells announced that Minnesota State Mankato is holding a 2017-2018 colloquium series titled “We Have Ag!” that is intended to highlight the University’s distinctive academics, research and industry connections in agriculture, food and natural resources.

The series’ first event, titled “Agricultural and Energy Policies: Their Impact on Land Use in Rural Minnesota,” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 24 from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Centennial Student Union’s Ostrander Auditorium.

The series events are free and open to the public, and the series will be live-streamed at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/mnsuadmin/.

The format for each session will be a moderated panel discussion with an introduction, two-five speakers for five-eight minutes each, questions and open discussion for 20-30 minutes and closing remarks. All views are welcome. Deliberative discussions and light refreshments will follow each event.

Wells encouraged both the public and campus community to participate in the colloquium discussions.

“These are great forums in which to learn about the success stories of Minnesota State Mankato students, alumni, faculty and staff in their academics, research and industry connections,” said Wells. “These events will also help us explore our future potential as a Non-Land Grant College of Agriculture (NLGCA), a designation we achieved in 2015. We invite the campus and local communities to attend and join us in determining our destiny.”

Tuesday panelists will include Martin Mitchell and Fei Yuan, both of whom are professors of geography and Minnesota State Mankato distinguished faculty scholars.

Mitchell’s panel presentation is titled “How to Protect our Natural Resources: Minnesota’s Conservation Reserve Program.” Yuan’s panel presentation is titled “Collaborative Research on Precision Agriculture with the China Agriculture University.”

Mitchell and Yuan will collaborate on a presentation titled “Climate Change and its Impacts on Minnesota’s Growing Season.”

Tuesday’s discussion moderator will be Donald Friend, professor and chair of Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Geography.

Other upcoming topics in Minnesota State Mankato’s 2017-2018 “We Have Ag!” colloquium series (dates to be determined) will include:

  • “Water Quality in Minnesota: What Are the Effects of Buffer Strips & Nitrate Testing?”
  • “It’s All About Choice: Comparing the Merits of Organic & Conventional Farming”
  • “Young Professionals in Agriculture”
  • “Modern Agriculture, Many Careers”
  • “Water Quality in our Agriculture-Rich Region: Challenges & Opportunities”

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,712 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which comprises 31 state institutions.

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Contact: Dan Benson
(507) 389-6838
daniel.benson@mnsu.edu