Free attendance - Registration needed
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the C.V. Riley Memorial Foundation (RMF), and the World Food Prize Foundation (WFPF), with support from The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), invite you to attend the 2026 AAAS Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture and the 2026 AAAS-RMF Policy Roundtable.
Agenda:
- Policy Roundtable: from 2:30 to 4:00 pm (ET) - in-person only
- Riley Memorial Lecture: from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm (ET) - hybrid
- Reception: from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm (ET) - in-person only
2026 AAAS Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture
"Soil: An Endless Frontier of Discovery and a Shrinking Resource"
Dr. Jo Handelsman, Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Vilas Research Professor, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor.
Dr. Handelsman's remarks will highlight global soil issues, including the causes of soil loss and potential solutions.
These remarks will be followed by a Q&A session and a panel discussion with distinguished experts Dr. Laura van der Pol (The Land Institute), Dr. Max Häggblom (Rutgers), and Dr. Gwyn Beattie (Iowa State University).
A reception will follow for the in-person attendees.
2026 AAAS-RMF Policy Roundtable
The roundtable on Nov 19, 2026 will be focused on
“What does the agriculture sector need to better advance its work as a long-term national priority for resilience, productivity, profitability and security? Is a new national outlook an imperative?”
The topic of the roundtable will also relate to Strategic Advisory Council - CAST - The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology
A moderated panel of four experts will offer comments and engage in Q&A and discussion with each other and the audience in-person in DC.
Moderator – Daniel Robison, President of CV Riley Memorial Foundation and Professor Iowa State University
Panelists:
- Chris Boomsma, CEO, Council for Agricultural Science and Technology
- Karl Anderson, Senior Staff, US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry
- Josh Garetson, Director for Corporate Strategy and Economics, John Deere Co.
- Katherine Sixt, Executive Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist, U.S. Department of Agriculture
In-person space for the roundtable limited.
For more information, please visit https://www.aaas.org/events/2026-aaas-charles-valentine-riley-memorial-lecture