Written by published on NC State’s CALS News.
The North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative isn’t all roots and stems.
It’s genetics. It’s robotics. It’s big data.
And with this week’s announcement of a newly hired launch director, it’s about to get rolling — in a big way.
We can make a mark on agriculture for generations to come.
Entomologist, agricultural biotechnology business professional and commodity leader Stephen Briggs is now signed on to make this one-of-a-kind plant sciences research enterprise, housed in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University, a reality.
“I believe in our stakeholders’ vision that this can be the Silicon Valley of agriculture for the world,” Briggs said. “We can make a mark on agriculture for generations to come.”
Briggs steps in at a critical time for the interdisciplinary, multi-partner initiative. In less than three years, the NC PSI has transitioned from a “big idea” to a highly anticipated center for plant sciences innovation. With the broad support of North Carolina’s agricultural community, the initiative will break ground on its state-of-the-art facility in 2019, with doors opening in fall 2021.