Occasional Speaker Series on Research Topics in Sustainable Development
"Environmental and Social Sustainability: Framing the Risks of Genetically Modified Maize in the United States, the European Union and Kenya"
Speaker: Adrian Ely, Research Fellow, Program on Science, Technology and Society, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Hosted by Prof. William Clark, Science, Environment and Development Group, Center for International Development
Tuesday, 14 December 2004
12:00-1:30 pm
Brown bag lunch - cookies will be provided
Perkins Room (Room 415), Rubenstein Building, KSG
Seminar Abstract:
This presentation reviews experiences in the United States and the European Union surrounding the assessment of environmental risks associated with the wide-scale release of genetically modified Bt maize. It then applies some of the findings of this comparative study to regulatory debates in developing countries where similar crops could be introduced in the future, specifically Kenya, where Bt maize is currently under development. Focusing in on the issue of gene-flow, the case-study raises questions about the framing of risks and benefits, and about notions of environmental and social sustainability. In highlighting some of the geographically specific factors that have led these to diverge, the findings have implications for the introduction and transfer of new technologies to different contexts in both North and South.
Adrian Ely is a visiting fellow with the Program on Science, Technology and Society at the Kennedy School until February 2005. He is normally based at SPRU at the University of Sussex, UK, where he is completing a PhD entitled ‘Regulatory Appraisals of Bt Maize – A Study of Science in Governance’. His thesis analyzes the ways in which scientific evidence has been employed in the formulation and support of policies surrounding genetically modified Bt maize in the USA, UK, France and Austria. Adrian holds a BA (Hons) in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Plant Biotechnology for Emerging Economies from the University of Sussex. He has spent periods as a visiting researcher at the National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA), France, and as a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society in Graz, Austria.
Background Document:
Ely, Adrian. 2002. "Evaluating Environmental Risks of Bt Maize in the US and EU: Lessons and Challenges for Kenya." Paper prepared for the Workshop on Globalisation and Governance of Biotechnology, with special reference to Kenya, 28 November 2002, Nairobi, Kenya.
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© 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Last revised 08/22/2007