Metabolic Studio Public SalonJulian LairdFriday, September 25, 2009 @ NoonFree Admission

Arctic Ice and Frozen Seeds - Feeding the Future

About The Salon

High in the Arctic, deep inside a frozen mountain, a concrete bunker provides protection to one of the most important resources for human life on Earth - seeds. Julian Laird, of the Rome-based Global Crop Diversity Trust, one of the principal partners in this ambitious project, will describe not only how the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was built and how it works, but why its treasure is so valuable and yet so threatened.

About The Salon Presenter

Julian is Director of Development and Communications at the Global Crop Diversity Trust, a young international organisation, with which he has been involved since before the Trust became a legal entity. Before moving to the Trust, Julian was Director of Programmes and Acting Chief Executive of Earthwatch Institute (Europe), an international non-profit organisation supporting environmental field research and conservation in 40 countries. Julian has been involved in the design and development of capacity building programmes in national parks throughout Africa, as well as global environmental awareness-raising campaigns in the public and private sectors.

Above: The Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Image courtesy: Mari Tefre/Global Crop Diversity Trust