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Steve Sonka to Present at SIUE’s SSCC Speaker Series

The food and agribusiness sector of today and tomorrow is a dynamic and complex setting of economic and social opportunity, according to Steve Sonka, emeritus chaired professor of agricultural strategy at the University of Illinois. Sonka will speak at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC) Speaker Series presentation at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 27 in the Fuller Dome on SIUE’s campus.

The Speaker Series is an extension of SSCC’s practice of listening deeply to what matters to local communities and matching those concerns to expertise on campus.

“No matter the size or location of the community, we consistently hear concerns about our food systems,” said Connie Frey Spurlock, director of SSCC. “Sonka’s presentation, ‘Tomorrow’s Agriculture: Data, Digits and Society,’ will speak specifically to career opportunities in food and agribusiness.”

According to Sonka, “those opportunities extend from genetics to the trendiest foodie restaurants; from the not-for-profit focused on eliminating food deserts to multinational corporations; from southern Illinois to the Silicon Valley to national capitals around the world.”

Sonka authored Computers in Farming (1983), the first text devoted to computer use in the sector. His interest and involvement in the application of information technologies has continued through PC’s, the internet, precision agriculture, Big Data and now digital agriculture. His international experiences include consulting and lecturing on every continent except Antarctica.

The Speaker Series is free and open to the public due to a generous donation by SIU Board of Trustees member John Simmons. For more information and to register visit bit.ly/3RWY9M2.

Photo: Steve Sonka, emeritus chaired professor of agricultural strategy at the University of Illinois.

Original source can be found here