Hans Rudolf Herren
Thursday, 16. October 2014 | 16:00 Uhr
Speaker
Organisation
Reporting
Hans R. Herren, founder of the Biovision Foundation and 2013 Alternative Nobel Prize laureate, called for a paradigm shift in our behavior: „We do not act sustainably and are careless with our precious resources of arable land, water, and plants. When it comes to production, we cannot just support large farming businesses; small farmers also contribute greatly to a sustainable food system. With respect to bio-diversity, we must move from linear thinking to networked thinking because ecosystems are closely linked to each other.“ Changing something on a plant’s gene affects the entire ecosystem. Insects provide valuable services in plant protection.
Climate change must also be considered, particularly the extreme events that accompany the new extremes in temperature, precipitation, or drought. In future, a significantly higher diversity of plants and animals must be achieved in order to successfully cope with the impact of climate change on production and production systems.
Learn more about bio-diversity and Hans Herren’s suggested approaches in the video of the presentation he held at Academia Engelberg Foundation’s 13th Dialogue on Science.
Hans R. Herren
Hans Rudolf Herren (born November 30, 1947 in Mühleberg, Switzerland) is a Swiss entomologist, farmer and development specialist.
Herren is the president of the Washington-based Millennium Institute and co-founder and president of the Swiss foundation Biovision He co-chaired the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) until 2008 and is the former Director General of International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) and is currently involved in the preparations of the United Nations’ 20th Conference on Sustainable Development with Biovision Foundation and Millennium Institute.
After receiving his M.Sc. in Agronomy from the ETH Zurich and his doctorate in Biological Control from the same University in 1977, Herren did his post-doctoral studies in Biological Control of insect pests at the University of California at Berkeley.
Only 32-years old, Herren then went to work for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Nigeria. There he built the Biological Control Program and designed and implemented the largest biological pest-management known to date fighting the Cassava Mealybug (Phenacoccus manihoti) and saving an estimated 20 million lives by averting a major food crisis. For this achievement he received numerous awards including the 1995 World Food Prize and the 2003 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement.
From 1999 until 2007, Herren was the president of the International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS). From 2006 until 2010 Herren was a two-term member of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR) Science Council. Herren was also a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne from 2005 until 2011.
Prizes
• 1995 World Food Prize
• 1995 Kilby International Award
• 1999 Foreign Associate of the US Academy of Sciences
• 2002 Dr J. E. Brandenberger Prize
• 2003 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
• 2013 Right Livelihood Award / Alternative Nobel Prize
