Meeting the Challenges of 2020

At CALS, we transform challenges into opportunities. 2020 has been a challenging year for us all.

Difficult times remind us that we’re all connected. We have the ability to adapt and persevere, if we work together.

Our CALS community knows this. I’m inspired by how our students have adapted, keeping their eyes on the future. In this issue you’ll read about students whose goals range from fighting animal and human diseases to finding new ways to produce and protect our food supply. They’re learning online, landing jobs and co-authoring scientific research in the midst of the pandemic.

Their mentors—our faculty—have modeled adaptability, switching to online instruction, keeping labs running and collaborating on critically needed research. In fact, this has been an exceptionally productive year for research. We couldn’t have done it without our staff, who made changes to the campus and to our work procedures to protect our Pack.

Perhaps no one understands resilience better than farmers, who deal with risk every growing season. Yet they manage to make the most of every opportunity. In this issue, we share the stories of agricultural innovators we’re proud to work with.

We’ll continue to do our part as a land-grant university to support our communities and businesses through this time. Regardless of the challenge, CALS is still hard at work to help all North Carolinians.

We remain committed to providing every student with a world-class education. To make sure opportunities are available to everyone, we’re expanding efforts to end systemic racism and inequity.

The support of our alumni, donors and collaborators makes our work possible. Thank you for your generosity. Your donations to the Student Emergency Fund keep our Pack members learning.

Despite the current challenges, we have the courage to dream big dreams for the future of North Carolina agriculture and life sciences and the determination to make them happen. We can achieve them together.

Go Pack and Go CALS!