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BARD newsbites

Dear BARD community,

We are going through unusual times while coping with a worldwide pandemic that affects every aspect of our lives. In many parts of the world, borders are closed, airports, hotels and businesses are shut down, schools have been closed down, social and research activities are cancelled or delayed.

This uncertain situation causes people to worry about their health, their employment status, their basic wellbeing and also the disruption of their food supply chain. That's where agriculture and food safety come in. Secretary Perdue, the US secretary of Agriculture, recently addressed the situation in a broadcast to the public. He called on Americans “to step-up and continue our mission”. He continued: “Although [the situation] looks different than  [it did] a month ago, that doesn’t mean we can stop. Our shared goal is to continue to serve the public during the stressful time we are all going through”. We at BARD hope this COVID-19 threat will soon subside and we’ll be able to go back to our day-to-day interaction.

We are adapting to new circumstances and we hope to continue advancing applied agriculture science. With our 2020 proposals' evaluation process currently being processed, the BARD Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will meet virtually later this month in order to finalize its funding recommendations to the Board of Directors, scheduled to meet beginning of June. In addition, the deadline for submission of the “B-lever” proposals has been postponed to April 30th, 2020 (see more information in this newsletter) and will be evaluated as scheduled.

This spring newsletter will present you with the contributions of individuals and teams that worked on BARD-funded research and workshops. Entitled “From Concepts to Applications” it highlights a variety of topics that have major impact on our lives and the world around us. We hope you are keeping healthy and safe and wish you a Happy Easter and Happy Passover.
 
The BARD team is available via email for any support you may need.

Sincerely,
Yoram and the BARD team

We are here

If you have any queries regarding BARDs programs, please do not hesitate to reach out and we will do our best to answer your needs.

For queries regarding the academia-to-industry B-Lever program
please contact Shlomo Wald:shlomo.wald@taw.co.il

For queries regarding BARD research grants and TAC
please contact Haim Katz:Haim@bard-isus.com

For queries regarding fellowships and workshops
please contact Nitsan Singer:nitsan@bard-isus.com

For queries regarding finance
please contact Miriam Green:finance@bard-isus.com

B-Lever Academia-to-Industry

The B-lever academia-to-industry program was set up last year. It aims to help researchers in their path to commercialization. If you are considering commercializing and need a partner in planning how to go-to-market and fund your project, this can be your opportunity to take your research to the next level.

The Seeds of the Future

For the past 40 years, BARD has been supporting excellent scientists who aim to tackle burning issues and future challenges. From autonomous robots and soil-analysis sensors, to enhancing protein production, optimizing conservation of resources, BARD-supported scientists are developing tomorrow’s solutions already today.

BARD-funded Researchers

Postharvest Control

Warm wishes to our colleague and friend Dr. Michael Wisniewski upon his retirement, summing up close to 30 years of working with BARD on innovative fruit production, improvement and protection.

Prof. Zamir Wins the Israel Prize

Prof. Dani Zamir from the Hebrew University’s Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment is the laureate of the Israel prize for agricultural research and environmental science.

Spotlight on Research

Go for the Gut to Defeat Fruit Flies

"The motivation behind the project was to help develop a sustainable strategy to manage fruit fly pests” Wong said. “Growers are relying on spraying insecticides, but it’s not a sustainable way to control the pest. We want to develop something that can help them in the long term".

A Thirst for Water Research

World Water Day is marked on March 22nd. This year's focus is on water and climate change, and realizing how the two are inextricably linked. Properly utilizing our water can have a positive effect on climate change, protect public health, and even save lives. Read about BARD-funded workshops on water and water usage.

Established in 1979, BARD is a competitive funding program that supports collaborative agricultural research in areas of mutual interest to the U.S. and Israel. BARD, P.O. Box 15159 Rishon LeZion 7505101, Israel. We sent out this message to existing BARD contacts. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, simply click on the following link to unsubscribe.

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