International Horticulture Expert Mitcham at Bumpers College Global Food Opportunities Event

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Elizabeth Mitcham is director of the USDA's Horticulture Innovation Lab.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Elizabeth Mitcham, director of the USDA-funded Horticulture Innovation Lab at the University of California, Davis, is the featured speaker for the upcoming Global Food Opportunities Seminar Series hosted by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.

Mitcham is speaking from 1-2:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in Room 133 of the John W. Tyson Building. Her visit is sponsored by Bumpers College's International Programs Office and the Department of Horticulture. The Global Food Opportunities series, which is open to students, faculty, staff and the public, exposes students to international experiences and opportunities to expand career and academic options.

Mitcham is discussing experiences and knowledge of international horticulture development and where her area of expertise is headed in the future. Her presentation includes time for questions from the audience.

At the Horticulture Innovation Lab, Mitcham focuses on fruit and vegetable development to aid smallholder farmers in developing countries. The lab works in conjunction with the United States Feed the Future initiative. The partnership allows them to collaborate with more than 18 universities around the country and 200 organizations around the world, including in areas such as Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Mitcham is also on the faculty at UC Davis where she serves as a postharvest physiologist. She has helped train professionals from more than 40 countries as one of the leaders of the Postharvest Technology Center.

She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, her master's degree from North Carolina State University and her Ph.D. from Maryland. Mitcham joined the UC Davis faculty in 1992 as a postharvest pomologist and cooperative extension specialist.

In 2015, Mitcham was named Outstanding International Horticulturist by the American Society for Horticulture Sciences. She was elected vice president of the international division of the American Society for Horticulture Sciences in 2016 with her term beginning in 2017.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.