The Future of Food:
Protecting Human and Environmental Health
By 2050, the earth’s population is estimated to reach nine billion which will intensify a growing food security crisis, exacerbated by current agricultural processes, climate change and economic inequality. Around the globe, there is an urgent need to improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of the food supply chain. At the University of Washington, engineers and scientists are working across disciplines to manage the quality and quantity of food we eat and grow. Join us for the 2019 Engineering Lecture Series to learn more about their work to inform a brighter future for us all.

Rebecca Neumann, Associate Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering

Arsenic is a naturally occurring but carcinogenic pollutant. Its ubiquitous presence in natural and agricultural environments threatens global food security and negatively affects the health of millions of people worldwide. Professor Neumann, an arsenic expert, is advancing knowledge of how arsenic in local and global settings affects food and water quality, and the health of ecosystems.

Rebecca Neumann is an associate professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. She leads the hydro-biogeochemistry research group, working to understand how hydrologic, chemical and biological processes interact to control chemical fate and transport. The group tackles topics such as food and water quality and global climate change, with the goal of informing management and policy decisions that protect human and environmental health. Prior to UW, she worked as a NOAA Climate and Global Change postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University in the Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology. She received her Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.