Created: May 31, 2003Last Modified: August 5, 2003
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Symposium September 8–9, 2003:
Role and Responsibilities of the Land Grant System
in
Building Community Strengths to Address Biohazards*
(*i.e., natural and man-made threats to public health and the local environment)
A Symposium with cross-disciplinary relevance and appeal, to be held at
Cornell University, Biotechnology Building Ground Floor.
Register by contacting Sylvia Moravia (sdm9@cornell.edu or 607-255-9510).
Questions? Contact Rod Howe <rlh13@cornell.edu> or Lois Levitan <lcl3@cornell.edu>. Rod is Assistant Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) and Associate Director of the Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI). Lois is Program Leader of the Cornell Environmental Risk Analysis Program (ERAP).
Role and Responsibilities of the Land Grant System
in
Building Community Strengths to Address Biohazards
Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this Symposium is to strengthen the capacity of the Land Grant system to work with communities in preparing and recovering from natural and man-made biohazards (e.g., severe winter weather, highly infectious diseases and water system contamination).
The Symposium will identify issues and build skills integrating community, biosciences and the Land Grant outreach mission. We will build networks across disciplines and between research and outreach, bridging the life and social sciences to develop a framework for biohazard prevention, preparedness, and remediation.
Why Have a Symposium?
The perception and reality of risks to health, food systems, and the local environment have been in the news and public consciousness with increasing frequency in the past few years, and especially since September 11, 2001.
Although recent perception may be that risks from purposefully malevolent actions (i.e., bioterrorism) are of greatest concern, in fact many recent challenges to community preparedness are from emerging infectious diseases (e.g., SARS and West Nile Virus), severe weather events (e.g., an ice storm causing road blockages and power outage), and food and water system contamination.
While agricultural and life scientists know a great deal about many of the organisms that are potential biohazards, and earth scientists and engineers have gained much ground in predicting and preventing tragedy from natural disasters, the critical interplay between the biosciences and social factors is less well understood.
For example, how might disruptions due to biological threats affect community cohesion, economic and emotional stability, and the health and well-being of residents? Conversely, does a cohesive, interactive community enable more effective risk communication and cooperation under stress?
These interactions will be the focus of the Symposium.
Who Should Attend?
- Faculty, staff and educators in the Land Grant system who work on any aspect of community emergency preparedness or on risks associated with agriculture, the food system, or other biological hazards
- Social scientists with a focus on community
- Life scientists with extension or research interests in plant, animal or human diseases, public health, or environmental quality
- EDEN (Extension Disaster Education Network) representatives
- Extension and research administrators interested in developing cross-disciplinary programming to address pressing social issues and needs
Objectives
- Bring together multi-disciplinary intellectual resources of the Northeast Land Grant universities for two days of focused attention and networking to assess how the Land Grant system can better address biohazard prevention, preparedness and recovery
- Build an interdisciplinary understanding and framework for working on these issues
- Network within the Land Grant system to identify relevant expertise and interests
- Identify agencies, resources and groups outside the University system that are addressing community biohazard prevention, preparedness and recovery
- Discuss the role of the Land Grant system in working with public agencies on these issues
- Learn about potential funding sources to further Land Grant system work on these issues
- Develop research and outreach strategies that integrate perspectives from the social and biosciences for biohazard prevention, preparedness and recovery
Agenda
| Day One: Developing a Framework | |
|---|---|
| 1:00p | Register, poster set up, coffee & dessert |
| 1:30 | Welcome & orientation |
| 1:45 | Biology & community intertwined — Examples from the smallpox vaccination campaign |
| 3:00 | Introductions |
| 3:45 | Break |
| 4:15 | EDEN: role of the Extension Disaster Education Network in framing the Land Grant role in community preparedness |
| 5:30 | Public Seminar: Communicating SARS — civil liberties vs. community responsibility |
| 7:00 | Reception & poster session |
| 8:30 | End of the day |
| Day Two: Gaining the Skills/Developing the Structures | |
|---|---|
| 7:00a | Continental Breakfast |
| 8:00 | Social impacts of an “ag problem” — case study of Foot & Mouth Disease |
| 9:30 | Communicating about risks in the community |
| 10:30 | Break |
| 10:45 | Role of key federal, state & community partners in emergency preparedness |
| 12:15 | Lunch |
| 1:00 | Funding Land Grant System research & outreach for biohazard preparedness, response and recovery |
| 1:30 | Breakout session to explore funding proposals & initiatives |
| 2:30 | What is needed, next steps, wrap up |
| 3:00 | Refreshments for the road & informal networking |
Most sessions will involve a panel discussion with group participation.
Poster Session
Participants are encouraged to bring materials pertaining to any of the symposium themes to share and display (e.g., information about preparedness agencies, organizations, networks, funding and facilities; research and outreach projects; etc.). The poster session will be held in conjunction with the reception at the end of Day One and will be open to the public.
Submit proposals for this session (including the title, abstract and display requirements) to Sylvia Moravia (sdm9@cornell.edu or 607-255-9510). Let us know if you will want to hang a display on a poster board, and/or use a display table, or laptop computer.
Registration Information
There is no registration fee, but pre-registration is required for planning purposes. Register by sending names, contact information, and information about any special needs to Sylvia Moravia (sdm9@cornell.edu or 607-255-9510), administrative assistant, Cornell Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI).
Hotel Accommodations
Holiday Inn
222 South Cayuga St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
800-465-4329
Mention: “Biohazard Conference”
$69.00/single/double
Reserve by August 20 for conference rate
Co-Sponsors
- Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)
- Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine
- Cornell Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI)
- Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE)
- Cornell Department of Communication
- Cornell Environmental Risk Analysis Program (ERAP)
- Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (CUAES)
- Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN)
- Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD)
How Do Communities Pull Together in a Crisis?
- “How do citizens, the media, and specialists grapple with separating science from rumor, panic from prudence, and natural causes from malevolent acts?
- “What would your town do if suddenly there were no drinkable water?”
- “Do you think it's right to forcibly quarantine people with a highly infectious disease?”
- “How should communities balance civil liberties and public health?”
- “If authorities told farmers that their livestock were going to be killed to prevent spread of Foot and Mouth Disease, how would they and other Americans react?”
- “Is West Nile Virus contaminating the US blood supply?”
- “Why are people nervous about the smallpox vaccine? Why do the medical community and government seem to be at odds about this?”
- “Could terrorists or disgruntled employees create a famine (or widespread crop failure) by spreading a plant disease organism?”