Posts by Emily Lammers

In July 2024, Ghana marked a significant advancement in agricultural biotechnology with the commercial release of its first genetically modified crop: the pod borer resistant (PBR) cowpea. The Danforth Center Institute for International Crop Improvement (IICI) has played a pivotal role in the crop’s approval and dissemination. This development promises to enhance food security and improve the…

ST. LOUIS, MO – January 15, 2025– The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center today announced the establishment of a new William T. Kemper Fellowship to support outstanding PhD students whose research demonstrates great promise for advancing plant science. The fellowship was endowed by the Kemper Foundation. “We’re delighted to work with our long-time partners at the Danforth…

Dennis, an agtech investor and co-founder of CoverCress Inc., first became aware of the Danforth Center through the Ag Innovation Showcase. Having spent 29 years at Monsanto, Dennis was inspired by what he heard: “Here’s the Danforth Center solving really big problems that private industry wasn’t,” recalls Dennis. His passion for agriculture stems from his upbringing…

Imagine spending your summer learning about plant science and the cutting-edge technologies like robotics and drones that are used to better understand one of the world’s most important crops—corn! That’s exactly what 19 middle school and high school youth from both rural and urban communities in Illinois did at the third annual AgTech Corn Camp—a…

Jerry Steiner has led a long and distinguished career in agriculture—and in giving back. As an ag economics major at the University of Wisconsin, he was president of his ag fraternity. In his role as Monsanto’s executive vice president of sustainability and corporate affairs, he championed the virus-resistant cassava for Africa project. When he co-founded…

Gary Halls describes himself as “social.” The owner of Halls Sales & Marketing food brokerage, Gary is very active in the St. Louis Zoo’s Marlin Perkins Society, which is how he first learned about the Danforth Center. “When my friend George Fonyo started telling me about the Danforth Center, I had never heard of it,”…

“So many of us take the resources of the Earth for granted. We expect we will have food to eat and clean water to drink. Unfortunately, our planet does not have an unlimited supply, and this is causing inequality, poverty, and misery around the world,” says Christine “Chris” Linnenbringer. She’s been asked to explain why…

“I just have a wild imagination. I try to think of connections that people don’t think of.” George Fonyo, 96, is trying to explain his success as one of the Danforth Center’s most successful ambassadors. George has introduced dozens of friends to the Danforth Center, many of whom go on to become donors themselves. He…

“It’s no mystery. Don’t we all want to leave the world a better place?” Phil Needleman, PhD, is thinking about motivations—why he supports the causes that mean something to him and Sima, his wife of 63 years; also, why he got into science. “If you’re curious and want to learn and turn over new rocks,…