TEDx Windy City

I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1940, but grew up in northern California before moving to the New York area in 1951, where I now live and work. I received my B.S. in biology from Fairleigh Dickinson University, then my M.S. from Columbia University. I earned the Ph.D. degree in microbiology from the University of Notre Dame. I then spend three years at Rockefeller University as a guest investigator before coming to Columbia University as a professor.

I am Emeritus Professor of Public Health and Microbiology at Columbia University. For 27 years, I conducted NIH-sponsored laboratory-based research on a parasitic nematode, Trichinella spiralis. However, my long-term interests center around the environment and the ecology of infectious disease transmission. I co-authored a book on parasitic infections (Parasitic Diseases 5^th ed.), and authored another on the West Nile virus (West Nile Story).

I have published over 65 peer-reviewed scientific articles and numerous reviews on a variety of subjects, mostly dealing with parasitic infections, the ecology of infectious diseases, or the concept of the vertical farm. I have delivered over 100 invited lectures on subjects ranging from infectious diseases to urban agriculture. I have been honored for my teaching efforts with Teacher of the Year 8 times at Columbia University, the Dean’s Distinguished Medal for Teaching Excellence, and in 2003, awarded the national Golden Apple For Teaching Excellence by the American Medical Student Association.

I have always been amazed at the wide variety of infectious agents that are transmitted at the agricultural interface through the use of raw, untreated human waste as fertilizer, and by the inefficiency of traditional farming in providing ample food for everyone on the planet, especially now as the result of rapid climate change.

I am currently engaged in a project whose mission is to produce significant amounts of food crops in tall buildings that are situated in densely populated urban centers (Vertical Farming; see www.verticalfarm.com). In this mode of agriculture, no fertilizers of any type are necessary (it employs hydroponics and aeroponics), including human feces. No agricultural runoff is produced, and crops can be harvested all year round.

Vertical farming offers many other advantages as described in my forthcoming book (October, 2010, St. Martin’s Press, Pub. Vertical Farm: the world is growing up). An exhibit featuring the vertical farm is currently on display at The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Another exhibit on vertical farming is due to open in June, 2010 at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York City.