National Hemp Symposium Set For Feb. 9-10
Oregon State University’s Global Hemp Innovation Center has partnered with the National Academies of Sciences Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources to host the inaugural National Hemp Symposium, Feb. 9-10, 2021.
The virtual conference will include a diverse program with a broad focus on both what the industry has accomplished to-date and what lies ahead. Major U.S. corporations participating in international supply chains across all sectors will join us to express their views on the science and research and development needs for the thousands of hemp-based sustainable products that could displace unsustainable fossil fuel and water-intensive source materials currently in use.
“We are at a critical time for the newly emerging American hemp industry that depends on research for science-based decision-making to accelerate progress towards stable production and dependable markets,” said Jay Noller, director of the Global Hemp Innovation Center. “This symposium will offer a deep dive into some of these most pressing challenges and opportunities facing the hemp industry as the future is truly limited only by our imagination.”
Registration is now open for the conference, which also includes a hemp film festival. Names of conference speakers are expected to be announced in coming weeks. For more information about this virtual conference and to register to attend visit: https://nationalhempsymposium.org/.
The Global Hemp Innovation Center was launched in June of 2019. It is reportedly the largest, most comprehensive hemp research center in the nation. Led by Jay Noller, the center is based in the College of Agricultural Sciences, with faculty from multiple disciplines and colleges across OSU, and has a global reach that includes partnerships in four countries.
The center received a $1 million gift in 2019 from Oregon CBD, a hemp seed research and development company, to research hemp genetics.
The Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR) is the major program unit of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine responsible for organizing and overseeing studies on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, wildlife, and the use of land, water, and other natural resources.
Photo at top, courtesy of Oregon State University: Jay Noller, left, director and lead researcher of the Oregon State University Global Hemp Innovation Center, and Lloyd Nackley, a hemp researcher, at the launch of the center.