International leadership thrives at many local firms

Fernando Barrio interviews Ann Rynearson, senior vice president of culture and community at the International Institute in St. Louis, as part of the “Global Thinking” television series that will air on HEC-TV.

Each episode of “Global Thinking” features a different institution: the Missouri Botanical Garden, the International Institute, Monsanto, and the Danforth Plant Science Center.

In the first episode, which aired on Wednesdays and Saturdays in July and August, host Fernando Barrio tours the Missouri Botanical Garden and talks with several scientists who work there. Though many recognize its touring gardens as a gem enjoyed by locals and tourists alike, the Missouri Botanical Garden also serves as a center of international knowledge on plant life from around the world. In fact, 10 percent of the Garden’s full-time research staff is overseas, working among priceless ecosystems in Central and South America, Southeast Asia, and Madagascar.

Barrio, Webster University’s 2007 Des Lee Lecturer in Global Awareness, talks with Botanical Garden director Peter Raven – who is also on the Webster University College of Arts & Sciences Advisory Board – about the Garden’s role in international plant research and knowledge exchange. [Note: For more about Raven, see his feature in last fall's issue of the Global Thinking newsletter.] Raven and Barrio also discuss the world’s “biodiversity crisis” and the Garden’s continued mission to further biodiversity conservation and knowledge through efforts such as the Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development.

All episodes run on HEC-TV, the channel of the Higher Education Consortium of Metropolitan St. Louis (HEC), which also co-sponsored the series. For those without access to HEC-TV, the episodes can also be viewed on the College of Arts & Sciences Web site.

The next episode, airing September through early November, explores how Monsanto, a leading agricultural company based in St. Louis, is using technology and collaborating with farmers across the globe to secure the world’s food supply.

Visit HEC-TV’s program schedule for air dates and times.