The National Academies of Science will be presenting a report next week about the impact of genetically modified crops. The report release will be open to the public and will be streamed via live webcast at www.nas.edu. Please see below for more information. We think the report will share very interesting information and we will report on its findings after the release!’

The National Research Council is pleased to invite you to attend the public release of a new report on genetically engineered crops. The Impact of Genetically Engineered Crops on Farm Sustainability in the United States is the first comprehensive assessment of the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the GE-crop revolution on U.S. farms. It addresses how GE crops have affected U.S. farmers, both adopters and nonadopters of the technology, their incomes, agronomic practices, production decisions, environmental resources, and personal well-being. The report offers several new findings and recommendations that will be of interest to farmers, industry representatives, science organizations, policymakers, government representatives, and the public.

 The public release and briefing of this report will be held on Tuesday, April 13, at 11:00 am in the Lecture Room of the National Academies of Sciences building, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC. Members of the public are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to Kamo Mutu at kmutu@nas.edu. The briefing will also be streamed live via webcast. Please visit www.nas.edu to view the briefing.

The National Academies Keck Futures Initiative - a program of the National Academies of Science, is awarding four $20,000 prizes in 2010 to individuals or teams who have “developed creative, original works that address issues and advances in science, engineering and/or medicine for the general public.”

Nominations are currently being accepted in four categories: book, magazine/newspaper, film/radio/TV and online. Winners will be notified in Fall 2010.

If you know of a worthy individual or team you can nominate them using the online nomination form. You can learn more about the award and the selection criteria here.