The fifth candidate vying to become executive director of the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute will present his vision for the institute at a Dec. 14 campus forum.

Simon Cook will speak at 4 p.m. in the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center, Rooms B1-B2, 2021 Transformation Drive. Cook is an independent research consultant and former founding director of the water, land and ecosystems program within the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research.

A question-and-answer session, followed by a 5 p.m. reception, will conclude Cook’s presentation. Faculty, staff and students are welcome. Those unable to attend may watch the presentation via live stream.

Roberto Lenton, founding executive director of the Water for Food Institute, announced in February that he would be transitioning from his leadership role as planned when he joined the institute in 2012.

The first candidate for the position, Mark Walbridge, national program leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service’s Availability and Watershed Management Program, held a public forum Oct. 26. The second, Bert Clemmens, senior hydraulic engineer with WEST Consultants in Tempe, Arizona, presented Nov. 19. Rick Ward, professor and director of the Maricopa Agricultural Center at the University of Arizona, visited UNL as the directorship’s third candidate on Nov. 23. And the fourth candidate, Peter McCormick, deputy director for research at the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka, visited campus on Dec. 10.

For more information on the search, click here.