Page 4 - Strategic Plan

MESSAGE FROM THE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
When I hired Dr. Edward “Gilly” Evans as the new director of the UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center last summer, I did so partially on the strength of his vision for the center. You can read about this vision in the pages that follow, and I expect you’ll be as impressed as I was.
I support this strategic plan call for organizing TREC’s work around the themes of agricultural innovation, natural resource conservation, and climate and environmental stewardship. Agri- cultural innovation is essential to keeping Florida growers com- petitive globally. Advances in the science of natural resource conservation will help Florida adjust to the 1,000 people a day arriving in the state. And South Florida is ground zero for the most immediate effects of sea-level rise.
What happens at TREC is important beyond Homestead, beyond Miami-Dade County, beyond Florida, and even beyond the United States. It’s projected that half the world’s population and more than 60 percent of its children will live in the tropics by mid-century.
That puts TREC in a position to make a global impact with its discovery and outreach. Gilly recognizes this in the plan’s call for “local focus with a global reach.”
The plan also echoes the UF/IFAS commitment to strengthening and expanding strategic partnerships. We have ambitions to feed the world, inform management of its natural resources, and prevent and mitigate the adverse effects of a changing climate.
We cannot do this alone. UF/IFAS partners range from the local Farm Bureau to international organizations focused on improving agricultural production worldwide. TREC’s extensive connections throughout the Caribbean and Latin America will help UF/IFAS achieve global impact as well as bring additional expertise to addressing South Florida’s greatest challenges.
TREC has extraordinarily talented faculty and staff. Strategic planning helps guide efforts in a direction that will allow them to make the greatest impact on our farms, wild spaces, and planet.
I wish TREC the best of luck on its path to continued achievement through 2025 and beyond.
Jack Payne
Senior Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources University of Florida/IFAS
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