Public Lectures in Natural Science: Coffee

Three researchers from different fields explore coffee from plant to cup - an updated version of an event from spring 2023.

Botanist Anders Barfod has worked with tropical plant resources for over 40 years. He introduces the botany of the coffee plant, including new research on its wild relatives, explains the coffee bean's role in the fruit, and traces the journey from ripe bush to finished cup.

Natural resource economist Aske Skovmand Bosselmann zooms in on the coffee belt around the Equator, where millions of farmers produce enough coffee for 30,000 cups per second. He examines the historical connection between cultivation and deforestation, the ecosystem services coffee provides under certain conditions today, and the latest research on coffee production under a changing climate.

Diabetes and nutrition researcher Kjeld Hermansen addresses the question of coffee and health: what is myth, and what holds up scientifically? He reviews coffee's significance for mortality and common diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, neuropsychiatric disorders, and type 2 diabetes, and provides insight into his research group's work on the mechanisms linking coffee to type 2 diabetes risk. The lecture also places Danish coffee consumption in historical perspective - from coffee's introduction to Denmark in 1665 to today.

Venue: Biografen, Nyborg Gymnasium.