Getting Engaged

Michael Kantar (Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences) has been named a 2018–2019 Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellow in the area of food and water security.

Leshner fellows are chosen to promote public engagement and institutional change in a variety of important issues at the intersection of science and society. They are given intensive training and support for individual projects as well as a workshop or funding for a public-engagement initiative.

Michael’s research focuses on the intersection between genomics, agriculture, and ecology. His lab’s goal is to examine the complex interactions necessary to create food systems that are more productive, healthy and sustainable. He is currently the communications officer for the Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee, an organization focused on how the public sector contributes to food security, education, and method development for plant breeding.