How a maverick approach can supercharge innovation here on Earth - meet keynote speaker Scott Amyx
In the lead up to evokeAG. 2023 – Down to Earth we’re getting to know some of our speakers, and we’re delighted to introduce you to keynote speaker Scott Amyx, Managing Partner at Astor Perkins.
Scott Amyx, evokeAG 2023 Keynote Speaker
With an impressive wrap sheet and credentials to boot – investor, TEDx speaker, Forbes New York Business Council Member, IBM Futurist, SXSW Pitch/Accelerator VC Judge, Tribeca Disruptor Foundation Fellow, National Sloan Fellow, Author, and now evokeAG. Keynote Speaker. In February 2023, Scott will challenge the evokeAG. audience to consider how a maverick approach can supercharge innovation on Earth.
Here Scott shares with us what he is most passionate about agrifood tech innovation, his predictions for how space tech and agrifood tech will ‘collide’ and the importance of interdisciplinary global collaboration to solve on-farm challenges in Australia.
What are you most passionate about in agriculture and agrifood tech innovation?
As the adverse impact and severity of climate change worsen, I am passionate about agrifood tech innovation and agriculture best practices that can thrive under heavy constraints — drought, increase and/or variability in temperature, pests, microbial & fungal diseases, heavy rain and/or flooding or worse.
What are your top predictions on how space tech will support agrifood tech innovation globally in ten years’ time (2032)?
Many scientists justifiably argue that terraforming inhospitable Mars is infeasible if not foolhardy. As a human species, if we are to survive in space, one of the biggest challenges to overcome is the production of life-supporting food in space. As we go further into deep space, we won’t always have a sun for photosynthesis, H2O, fertile soil, or reactive nitrogen. Deep space represents the harshest conditions for agriculture, including but not limited to microgravity, lighting, pressure, and increased radiation that can damage plant DNA.
By 2032, space tech could support agrifood tech innovation through:
- Continued advancement in plant genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9 to address the aforementioned issues mentioned above
- Astroculture plant experiments to optimise growth and yield in inhospitable, harsh conditions
- In-space greenhouse structures that can help inform better in-door, underground, and container vertical farming on Earth
- Advancement in culture, production, and storage of cell-based, cultured meat, seafood, fruits, and vegetables
- Dynamic agriculture, on a season-by-season basis, based on terrestrial sensors and LEO CubeSats data modeling.
How can we leverage researchers and innovators from the global pool to solve local problems in agriculture?
Some of this is already happening. From interdisciplinary, global collaboration projects, guest expert researchers at local institutions, open source research, data (IoT and synthetic data), and tools (AI/ML/DD) to finetuning global research models to address specific local problems in agriculture, there is already great efforts made to leverage best practices and research for local and regional applications.
More practically, to further amplify these efforts, funding, policies, and incentive structures need to be enhanced for maximum cooperation and collaboration.
RELATED: Adelaide announced as host city for evokeAG. 2023 – Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event
Can entrepreneurs, investors and social change agents deliver the radical change needed to feed a growing population, sustainably? Can SynBio transform ag – one cell at a time? Are we doing enough on biosecurity to safeguard the sector’s $100B future? These are just a few of the questions that close to 100 speakers will tackle at AgriFutures evokeAG. in Adelaide on 21-22 February 2023. View the full two-day program.
Tickets for evokeAG. 2023 Down to Earth are now on sale here. With the two previous evokeAG. events selling out, and international delegates jumping at the chance to return in 2023, we recommend getting in early to secure your tickets.