Sheril Kirshenbaum and Douglas Buhler

Sheril Kirshenbaum hosts "Our Table" at Michigan State University, an initiative to help consumers make more informed choices about food. She also currently hosts the YouTube series, Serving Up Science, and the WKAR show by the same name. Sheril co-authored Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future with Chris Mooney and wrote The Science of Kissing, which explores the science behind one of humanity's fondest pastimes. She also blogs at Scientific American. Sheril's writing appears in publications such as Bloomberg and CNN frequently covering topics that bridge science and society from climate change to parenthood. Her work has also been published in scientific journals including Science and Nature and she is featured in the anthology The Best American Science Writing 2010. Sheril is executive director of Science Debate, a nonprofit nonpartisan initiative to restore science to its rightful place in politics. She works to enhance public understanding of science and improve communication between scientists, policymakers and the public. Sheril has been a 2015 Presidential Leadership Scholar; a Marshall Memorial Fellow, a legislative NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow in the U.S. Senate and a Next Generation Fellow through the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law. She speaks internationally about science communication and has appeared as a thought leader at events like TEDGlobal and Ciudad de las Ideas. Previously, Sheril served as director of the University of Texas at Austin Energy Poll. She also worked with the Webber Energy Group at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy and Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Sheril has been a visiting scholar with The Pimm Group, a fellow with the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History and a Howard Hughes Research Fellow. As Director/Assistant VP, Douglas Buhler serves as the administrative leader of MSU AgBioResearch, a group of more than 350 researchers from seven MSU colleges—and has a network of 13 research centers across the state and a total annual budget of over $130M per year. MSU AgBioResearch engages research that combines scientific expertise with practical experience to generate economic prosperity, sustain natural resources and enhances the quality of life. Buhler is a native of Wisconsin and received his B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Nebraska. He at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1984 to 1989 and with United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service from 1989 to 2000. He joined Michigan State University as Professor and Chair of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and served in that position from 2000 to 2005. From 2005 to 2010 he was Associate Director of the MSU AgBioResearch and Associate Dean for Research for the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR). Buhler served as interim Dean of the CANR from 2011 to 2013 and again in 2016. Buhler's professional activities have generated over 330 publications including 130 refereed journal and review articles. Buhler has been an author or editor of three books and presented over 100 invited seminars, symposia, and workshops. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Weed Science Society of America, and North Central Weed Science Society and is a Distinguished Alumni of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Buhler serves on numerous boards and advisory panels including the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, Center for Food Integrity, Michigan Grape and Wine Industry Commission, and Michigan Crop Improvement Association.