Dr. David Gustafson serves as Director of the ILSI Research Foundation’s Center for Integrated Modeling of Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Security (CIMSANS). Dave’s academic training was at Stanford University and the University of Washington in Seattle, where he earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees, both in chemical engineering. His research on the environmental challenges surrounding agriculture has now spanned more than 30 years (primarily at Monsanto, from which he recently retired). The initial focus of his work was the development of new computer models for predicting the environmental behavior of crop chemicals, especially their potential impacts on water quality.
In subsequent years, Dave developed new modeling approaches to pollen-mediated gene flow and the population genetics of insect and weed resistance. In 2007, Dave served as an inaugural member and theme lead for the Monsanto Fellows Climate Change Panel, which reported back to the company on the degree of scientific certainty in climate modeling, and how climate change is already impacting agriculture around the world. He has served on various national and international teams looking at these issues, including the Executive Secretariat of the US Government’s National Climate Assessment Development & Advisory Committee.