Cornell University will host a symposium Sept. 8-9 focusing on land-grant university research and outreach to help communities prepare for natural and man-made biohazards. The symposium, "Role and Responsibilities of the Land Grant System in Building Community Strengths to Address Biohazards," will be held in Room G-10 of the Biotechnology Building on campus.

"The perception and reality of risks to health, food systems and the local environment have been in the public consciousness especially since the Sept. 11 attacks," says Lois Levitan, program leader of Cornell's Environmental Risk Analysis Program and an organizer of this symposium.

Levitan says that although current public perception is that risk from terrorism is the greatest concern, there are many recent challenges to community preparedness from emerging infectious diseases like SARS and West Nile virus, severe weather events like ice storms and extended power outages, and food and water system contamination.

Symposium topics will include:

• "EDEN: the Role of the Extension Disaster Education Network in Framing the Land-Grant Role in Community Preparedness,"
• "Social Impacts of an Agricultural Problem: Case Study on Foot and Mouth Disease,"
• "Biology and Community Intertwined: Smallpox Vaccination Campaign," and
• "Funding Land-Grant System Research and Outreach for Biohazard Preparedness, Response and Recovery."

The symposium is designed for university faculty, staff and educators within the land-grant system who work on any aspect of community emergency preparedness or on risks associated with agriculture, the food system or biological hazards, says Rod Howe, associate director of the university's Community and Rural Development Institute. Also, the conference is designed for social scientists, life scientists, and extension and research administrators.

There is no fee, but to attend contact Sylvia Moravia at (607) 255-9510 or sdm9@cornell.edu to register. Poster displays are being solicited.

The symposium is sponsored by Cornell's Community and Rural Development Institute, Cooperative Extension, College of Veterinary Medicine, Environmental Risk Analysis Program and Extension Disaster Education Network. Financial support is also being provided by the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.