The Global Plant Council

Plant life at the extremes in the Atacama Desert - by Prof. Rodrigo Gutierrez
2023-05-09 11:00 - 12:00 (Asia/Dubai) | Hybrid
Speaker: Rodrigo Gutierrez

Full Professor at the Faculty of Biological Sciences,
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
– Hosted by Professor Monika Chodasiewicz and Professor Heribert Hirt

If you are unable to attend in person at KAUST, you can follow the seminar on Zoom.

Abstract

Throughout evolution, plants adapted to flourish in a variety of ecosystems, including extreme deserts. In the current changing climate scenario, it is essential to identify the underlying molecular mechanisms that enable plant resilience under extreme conditions. We characterized three extreme ecosystems along a natural altitudinal gradient of environmental parameters on the western slopes of the Andes in the Atacama Desert. Using phylogenomics and metabolomics approaches, we identified genes and metabolites involved in developmental, regulatory and metabolic processes associated with environmental adaptation. Our study provides new insights into plant abiotic stress tolerance, and improves our understanding of the highly unique, pristine Atacama Desert ecosystem.

About the speaker

Professor Rodrigo Gutierrez is a Full Professor and current Director for Research and Planning at the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Deputy Director of the Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology, Principal Investigator at the Center for Genome Regulation and Investigator at the Ecology and Biodiversity Institute. He received multiple awards and honors during his career, including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute International Early Career Scientist award, John A. Boezi Memorial Alumnus Award from Michigan State University and the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He is one of the founders of the Chilean Society of Plant Biologists and its first elected president.

WEBINAR: Farmers-Scientists panel on gene-edited crops
2023-05-08 15:00 - 16:30 (Europe/Madrid) | Online
Organized joinly by The Global Plant Council and WIKIFARMER.
The next joint webinar organized by Wikifarmer and The Global Plant Council will feature leading scientists working on new breeding technologies and gene-edited crops. Each expert will bring their unique perspective and expertise to the discussion, with a particular focus on the particularities of their geographical location.
By sharing their knowledge and experience, these experts hope to clarify doubts and inspire advancements in the agricultural industry, ultimately leading to more sustainable and productive crops for the future.
Agenda and Confirmed Panellists:
• Welcome by Isabel Mendoza (The Global Plant Council) and Stella Provelengiou (Wikifarmer)
• “Introduction to gene-edited crops” by Irma Roig Villanova (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain)
• “Gene-editing edited in LATAM” by Miguel Angel Sanchez (ChileBio, Chile)
• “Gene-editing edited in Africa” by Abdulrazak Ibrahim (Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Ghana)
• Panel discussion
• Q&A
To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6–BxXLRSAmLddQKu46eUw

At the forefront of plant research 2023
2023-05-08 - 2023-05-10 | Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Plants are the basis of human society -food, feed, fiber, fuel, medicine-; our life depends on plants in a myriad of ways and addressing pressing current and future societal challenges (the ever increasing demand on agricultural products and natural resources at a global scale, or food security and quality in a changing environment) will crucially depend on plant research at multiple levels. The past twenty-five years have witnessed a revolution in our understanding of plant biology. The aim of this conference is to present and discuss the current forefront of plant research and to reflect on the prospects and challenges for today’s fundamental science and tomorrow’s agriculture.
We warmly invite you to be part of this exciting conference, which will be held in the lively city of Barcelona, Spain, this coming Spring (May 8-10, 2023). Participants are encouraged to submit abstracts for poster presentations. The number of participants will be limited, therefore early registration is recommended.
The workshop will be held at CosmoCaixa, a beautiful modernist building that is nowadays an interactive Science Museum.

Leaders of the Future with Prof Caroline Gutjahr
2023-04-26 12:00 - 12:30 (Europe/London) | Online
Speaker is Prof Caroline Gutjahr, and her talk will take place on Wednesday, 26 April, at 12 pm-1pm (UK time).
Join us for the Leaders of the Future webinar series to celebrate past SEB awardees and their work.
A 30-minute webinar followed by a Questions-and-Answers (Q&A) session where our invited speaker will talk about their scientific journey, how and why the SEB award influenced their career and some research highlights demonstrating the impact on their study area.

Speaker

Prof. Caroline Gutjahr
Director of Department 1: Root Biology and Symbiosis and Research Group Leader “Mycorrhiza and Root Biology”, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP) in Potsdam-Golm

Regenerative Agriculture – Understanding the opportunities and challenges
2023-04-25 - 2023-04-26 | Hybrid
Hybrid event hosted at Hilton York in York City Centre

The concept of Regenerative Agriculture is successfully engaging the agricultural community, food industry and policy makers to consider how to utilise agricultural land to maximise the delivery of ecosystem services.
There is no single definition of “regenerative agriculture”, with interpretations varying between practitioners; but it can broadly be defined as “an approach to farming that uses soil conservation as the entry point to regenerate and contribute to the delivery of food production and other ecosystem services”.
In practice, regenerative agriculture can be broken down into 5 key principles: 1) reduced soil disturbance; 2) retention of green cover; 3) retention of living roots in the soil; 4) crop diversification and 5) integration of livestock into rotations.
It is recognised that there is a need to bring together the scientific evidence supporting the implementation of regenerative agriculture, to help evaluate the potential benefits and challenges for food production, the environment and farm profitability, across different agroclimatic zones and farming systems. This conference will bring together researchers, consultants, farmers, agronomists and students to share research findings.
We invite abstracts that address the impact of regenerative farming on: soil, water & air quality, crop performance, pest management, farm economics and greenhouse gas balances & biodiversity and social barriers to uptake. Submitted abstracts can address either regenerative practices (e.g. crop residue retention, cover crops or companion cropping, reduced tillage, use of organic manures, diverse rotations), or whole system approaches (e.g. integrating livestock into rotations, integrated pest management, mob grazing or farm case studies).
The conference will include sessions on the above listed topics and subject area, and will conclude with a panel discussion which we hope will include farming representatives. The objective of the panel discussion will be to challenge scientists to work with farmers, in order to help develop the evidence base to support and justify the transition into regenerative agriculture. We hope that a position paper/statement can be generated from this discussion.

Sessions will be built around topics that are linked to the principles of regenerative agriculture.

Reducing soil disturbance
Retaining green cover
Retaining living roots
Diversification of crops
Integrating livestock into crop rotations

Invited speakers and Panel members

Lizzie Sagoo, Soil Scientist, ADAS Sustainable Agriculture Systems.
Alastair Leake, Director of Policy · The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
Ruth Wade, Research Fellow, University of Leeds
Emily Padfield, Nuffield Scholar
David Blacker, Yorkshire Farmer

Call for Abstracts

We encourage submission of abstracts from all sectors interested in Regenerative Agriculture including those in academia, policy, farming or industry. We are very interested in promoting research on the impact of Regenerative Agriculture
Sessions will mostly be comprised of talks selected from submitted abstracts. Please submit an abstract for an oral or poster presentation whether you will attend as an in-person or online delegate.
Abstract submission deadline is February 15th 2023

Phytohormones Congress - Metabolism and mode of action
2023-04-19 - 2023-04-21 | Segovia, Segovia, Spain
XVI Phytohormones Symposium: Metabolism and mode of action, of the Spanish Society of Plant Biology
After a break due to the Covid19 pandemic, the SEBP Phytohormones Group will hold its meeting this year, 2023, at the Convento de Mínimos de Segovia (Spain) from April 19 to 21.
Similar to other years, the format of the meeting will be 15-minute talks plus question time, trying to ensure that most of the laboratories that attend have representation. We would also like to give visibility to the youngest in these talks.
This year we want to launch a new poster presentation format, which will be in a digital version. The posters will be uploaded to a cloud where researchers will have the opportunity to visit them. To do this, you can use your own computers or tablets that we will make available to you. The poster will have a link email for further discussion if you want.
Both the summary of the talks and the posters will be collected in a book that will only be online, but will have an ISSBN number.

Forum for the Future of Agriculture
2023-03-28 | Brussels, Belgium
Forum for the Future of Agriculture Annual Conference will be held on March 28, 2023 consisting of live presentations, moderated panel discussions and dialogues, interactive interventions and networking opportunities. Join in person in Brussels or online.

The 19th International Workshop on Plant Membrane Biology
2023-03-27 - 2023-03-31 | Taipei, Taiwan
Since 1968, the International Workshop on Plant Membrane Biology (IWPMB) has provided a stimulating platform to discuss research advances related to plant membranes and to exchange new ideas. After much discussion among the Organizing Committee, we have decided that the theme of the 19th conference will be on how membrane transport is integrated with signaling, physiology, biotic and abiotic stresses, and development, and what new technologies and systems approaches can be adopted to address new questions and challenges.
The meeting was originally scheduled to be held in October 2022, but the global pandemic prompted us to postpone it to March 2023. In doing so, we are pleased to be able to conduct in-person meetings and, coincidentally, March is a very pleasant time of year to visit Taiwan. The pandemic has forced isolation on us for some time and, undoubtedly, we are all eager to have this opportunity to meet colleagues with common interests and to have stimulating and fruitful discussions to drive our research forward.
In order to encourage early career PIs, postdoctoral researchers and students to attend IWPMB, we have allocated funding for fellowships to subsidize some of their travel costs. Accordingly, when you register, please indicate if you would like to be considered for the fellowship competition.
Taipei is a fascinating city, with a mix of modern and traditional elements, and it is enriched with natural beauty, historical temples, and diverse dining experiences both in graceful restaurant atmospheres and in the vibrant night markets. The local Organizing Committee and I will do our very best to make this workshop a success and your stay here comfortable and enjoyable.

Anthromes, CO2 , and Terrestrial Carbon
2023-03-27 - 2023-03-30 | Washington DC, Washington DC, United States
The Anthromes, CO2, and Terrestrial Carbon meeting seeks to explore the inter-relationship of CO2-fertilization, people, and land ecosystems through the lens of terrestrial carbon source-sink dynamics during the deep past, through major cultural transitions, and in the net-zero motivated near-future. Speakers will span disciplines, bringing together a group of researchers to provide a global view of the multifaceted impacts of people on terrestrial carbon through time. Goals for the meeting are to: build community, synthesize how developing understanding of anthromes influences our understanding of the natural land sink under altered CO2, discuss the future impacts of human cultures and CO2-fertilization on terrestrial ecosystem carbon, and to consider net-zero culture as a driver of land carbon change, including the equity outcomes of the race to net-zero.
Website: https://www.anthromes-co2-and-terrestrial-carbon.com/2023/en/page/home

The 64th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists
2023-03-10 - 2023-03-17 | Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
In 2023, the 64th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists (Sendai Annual Meeting) will be held as an in-person meeting. The previous three meetings, in Osaka, Matsue, and Tsukuba, could not be held in person, so if it is held as planned, it will be the first in-person annual meeting for four years. The pandemic has restricted many activities, including research. On the other hand, there has been a by-product in the dramatic development of online communication tools. The success of the Matsue and Tsukuba Annual Meetings, which were held online, showed us a new direction for the Annual Meetings. The Sendai Annual Meeting will therefore be a hybrid meeting that can also be attended online, with the aim of ensuring that “no one is left behind”.
To the website: https://jspp.org/annualmeeting/64/e_greeting.php

HortQFLNet_AAB Kick-off Meeting
2023-03-08 - 2023-03-09 | Hybrid
Over the past three years the UKRI-BBSRC funded HortQFLNetwork has acted as a collective voice for the UK horticultural and postharvest research community. The network has provided pump-priming funding for 20 projects and organisation of relevant events. The HortQFL network leadership is engaging in a new relationship with the Association of Applied Biologists in order to build-upon the excellent work of the network. The AAB will start a new specialist group in ‘Horticultural Quality and Food Loss’ which will lead to the organisation of activities and events in this important area to ensure scientists can continue to work together in pursuit of relevant Sustainable Development Goals.
The HortQFL network and the AAB are planning this event to celebrate the success of recently-funded research and to explore cutting edge opportunities to move the field forwards. We will hear from grant-awardees, international keynote speakers and from a selection of speakers who have submitted abstracts to give an oral or a poster presentation.
This hybrid meeting is hosted at Cranfield University and is both the HortQFL Network annual meeting and the kick-off of the AAB ‘Horticultural Quality and Food Loss’ group. This is also the perfect follow-on from the 2022 AAB HortStresses meeting that was held at the University of Reading.

A career in academic publishing | Careers and Coffee (January)
2023-01-18 12:00 - 13:00 (Europe/London) | Online
SEB first Careers and Coffee webinar will happen on Wednesday, 18 January, at 12 pm (UK time), with Dr Michael Page talking about “A career in academic publishing”.

Join SEB for a series of ‘Careers and Coffee’ monthly talks in 2023 to broaden your view on career possibilities in the field of Experimental Biology.
A free webinar series with a 20-minute talk from an invited speaker covering their career journey, an overview of their role, career prospects, and avenues to get into the field with a Questions-and-Answers (Q&A) session at the end.
SEB first Careers and Coffee webinar will happen on Wednesday, 18 January, at 12 pm (UK time), with Dr Michael Page talking about A career in academic publishing.

Plantae Presents: How to Read a Scientific Paper
2023-01-17 16:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Plantae Presents: How to Read a Scientific Paper

Featuring Mary Williams and Michelle Facette
In this one-hour workshop, Dr. Mary Williams and Dr. Michelle Facette will discuss how to effectively and efficiently read a scientific paper. This workshop will cover the structure and components of scientific articles, interpretation of statistical analyses, and a case study using a selected article as an example.

Decolonising and Diversifying Biosciences Education
2022-12-16 08:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Madrid) | Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
There is an urgent need to re-consider this, and to adopt a more diverse and decolonised approach. This meeting will examine how we teach the Biosciences through an equality and diversity lens.
Topics will include the historical legacies of colonialism on the Biosciences, the need to adopt more diverse and inclusive examples, ableism within the curriculum, awarding gaps for disadvantaged students, and how Biology education can better incorporate international perspectives.
The meeting will also include student perspectives, and the emotional implications of receiving a non-inclusive education. The meeting will encourage delegates to consider their own teaching practices, and to identify ways in which they could become more inclusive. This meeting therefore aligns closely with both the ‘Teaching and Learning’ and ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity’ aims of the OED section.

Farmers-Scientists panel on Climate-Smart Agriculture
2022-12-07 14:00 - 15:30 (Europe/Madrid) | Online
Organized joinly by The Global Plant Council and WIKIFARMER.
Four scientists, working on staple crops of huge economical and food safety importance, will present the latest climate-smart agriculture ideas to farmers. Each expert will focus on one particular staple crop: wheat, corn, potato, and rice.
Agenda and Confirmed Panellists:
• Welcome by Isabel Mendoza (The Global Plant Council) and Stella Provelengiou (Wikifarmer)
• Introduction by Bill Davies, Lancaster Environment Centre
• Climate-Smart Agriculture solutions
– Matthew Reynolds (Cimmyt) – Wheat
– Christian Bachem (Wageningen University and Solynta) – Potato
– Yu Wang (University of Illinois) – Maize/corn
– TBD – Rice
• Q&A
To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qO0Yv_aoQGuhynorKNUBjw

Machine learning in plant–pathogen interactions: empowering biological predictions from field scale to genome scale
2022-12-07 09:00 - 10:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Machine learning (ML) encompasses statistical methods that learn to identify patterns in complex datasets. Here, Jana reviews application areas in plant–pathogen interactions that have recently benefited from ML. She provides an under-the-hood glance into her developed suite of ML-based tools for pathogen effector prediction such as EffectorP. Jana will discuss common pitfalls and challenges she encountered during the development of ML approaches. Finally, she will highlight future opportunities for ML as a tool for dissecting plant–pathogen interactions, for example through integration of AlphaFold predictions or ML-driven effector gene annotation.
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Jana is a bioinformatician interested in the interactions between plants and their pathogens. Her work involves using computational techniques to gain new insights into plant–pathogen relationships, and her contribution includes widely used software tools for fungal effector prediction using machine learning. She completed a M.Sc. in Computer Science with a focus on Bioinformatics at the University of Freiburg, Germany. In 2008, she commenced a Ph.D. at the University of Western Australia in which she developed novel methods for the computational prediction of non-coding RNA structure. In 2012, she joined CSIRO as a Postdoctoral Fellow to work on plant-pathogen interactions. In 2018, she joined the Australian National University as a Research Fellow at the Biological Data Science Institute and was awarded a 2019 ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) to uncover how rust fungi cause devastating plant diseases. In 2021 she joined CSIRO as a Senior Research Scientist where she leads the Data Intensive Approaches team. Jana’s Tansley insight ‘Machine learning in plant–pathogen interactions: empowering biological predictions from field scale to genome scale’, focuses on machine learning (ML) applications in areas in plant–pathogen interactions and highlights benefits and challenges in using ML approaches.

XV REUNIÓN DE BIOLOGÍA VEGETAL CHILENA
2022-12-05 - 2022-12-07
More info here: https://biologiavegetal.cl/

Deciphering the fingerprint of disturbance on the three-dimensional structure of the world’s forests
2022-11-16 15:00 - 16:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Canopy gaps and the processes that generate them play an integral role in shaping the structure and dynamics of forests. However, it is only with recent advances in remote sensing technologies such as airborne laser scanning that studying canopy gaps at scale has become a reality. Consequently, we still lack an understanding of how the size distribution and spatial organization of canopy gaps varies among forests ecosystems, nor have we determined whether these emergent properties can be reconciled with existing theories of forest dynamics. Here, I outline a roadmap for integrating remote sensing with field data and individual-based models to build a comprehensive picture of how environmental constraints and disturbance regimes shape the three-dimensional structure of the world’s forests.
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Tommaso’s research focuses on the processes behind the structure and function of the world’s forests, and how these might respond to rapid environmental change. Tommaso, a NERC Independent Research Fellow and Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, UK, brings his ideas together in his Tansley insight, ‘Deciphering the fingerprint of disturbance on the three-dimensional structure of the world’s forests’.

Bringing Biocontrol and IPM to Market
2022-11-16 - 2022-11-17
Over the last decade, the AAB “Advances in Biocontrol and IPM” Conference has become a popular fixture in the national calendar of events. The overall objective has been to create an annual gathering of the IPM community at which policy makers, experienced researchers, early career scientists and practitioners can detach themselves from their usual day-to-day pressures and become totally immersed in this important subject. To broaden its appeal still further, we will continue with a hybrid format to enable both in-person delegates at our regular conference venue and those who prefer to join us online.

Scientific Sessions
1. New Solutions
Aim: To attract presentations on latest developments and novel Biocontrol/IPM approaches nearing completion or recently launched
Confirmed speaker: Lauren Dipenbrock (University of Florida)
2. Future proofing development of sustainable control – gap analysis and innovation
Aim: To identify forthcoming gaps/problems the industry will face in effective transition to IPM from conventional chemicals; “New” pests arising from the loss of conventional products; Novel innovations under research to address these issues.
– Recognizing the potential that in some cases only early/incomplete datasets may be available for some studies, and in others there may be a need for caution regarding how much information is released, this session will include both full papers and short lightening talks as required.
Confirmed speaker: Chris Wallwork (Agrii)
3. Making it work in the field
Aim: To encourage contributions from Growers/ Supermarkets.
Confirmed speakers: Ron Stobart (Sainsburys), Andy Howard (Local Farmer):
Session 4: Bringing certainty for business: Comparing/contrasting global legislation for Biocontrol & IPM
Aim: Compare different legislator approaches to consider best practice. It is hoped various industry sectors would be interested in the regulatory environment (uncertainty; small size/limited resources ….)
Confirmed speakers: Roma Gwynn (Biorationale), Michael Braverman (Rutgers University, IR4)

2022 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting
2022-11-06 - 2022-11-09
2022 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting
Communication and Public Engagement for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet
November 6-9 | Baltimore, Maryland and Limited Virtual
Attend and help create solutions to advance science.
The American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America host a premier international scientific meeting that brings together leading and emerging scientific leaders from industry, government agencies, and academic institutions who are all working to advance agronomic, crop and soil sciences.
The in person option of this premier scientific meeting provides unlimited networking opportunities, innovative scientific abstracts, oral and poster sessions, a robust exhibit hall, technical workshops, and professional tours. Plus, there’s a career center, graduate and undergraduate programs, distinguished lecturers, awards, continuing education units (CEUs), prizes, and more!
The virtual option is a limited version of our in person Meeting and includes access to recordings of the Opening Keynote, the ASF Lectureship Series and internationally contributed oral and poster presentations.
On behalf of our three Boards of Directors, want to affirm our commitment to supplying a safe and productive environment for everyone present at our meeting. We regard harassment of any kind as a serious issue and want to let all of you know that harassment is NOT acceptable, and, if something does happen, we ask that each of us takes responsibility to say something – if you see something, SAY something.
Come join us to help turn the strategies into actions and the actions into impacts.

1er Simposio de Ciencias Agrarias de INTA – “Innovando Ciencia: Nuevas tecnologias aplicadas al mejoramiento genetico”
2022-11-03 - 2022-11-04 | Online
1st INTA Agricultural Sciences Symposium – “Innovating Science: New technologies for plant breeding”
A good opportunity for students in Hispanic countries to present their research. This is a meeting organized by students, with no registration fee, where we will have technical workshops, poster sessions, and a diverse outline of speakers.
Website: https://simposiomejoramien.wixsite.com/my-site-2

A comparative analysis of policy options for dsi under the CBD: how do they measure up?
2022-11-02 13:00 - 14:30 (Europe/London) | Online
A Webinar co-organised by the Global Plant Council, the DSI Scientific Network, the Global Genome Biodiversity Network and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
Establishing and implementing an effective Post-2020 Framework for Biodiversity will not be possible without coming to an agreement on a solution for DSI that enables fair and equitable sharing of benefits while preserving open access in support of research, biodiversity conservation, food security, and public health. The DSI Scientific Network, the Global Plant Council, the Global Genome Biodiversity Network and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture will host a joint webinar to discuss the implications of different policy options for a benefit sharing mechanism for DSI. Experts will share their views on the possible impacts of the proposed policy options, highlighting where win-win solutions could be identified from a research perspective. Use of DSI underpins work in all fields of conservation biology and ecology, plant and animal sciences, as well as many domains beyond. Parties must find a way to ensure the benefits of this use are shared fairly and equitably. The ongoing biodiversity crisis demonstrates the urgent need for further research into how to address and reverse it, which will depend on open access to DSI.
Agenda and Panellists:

Andrew Hufton, Biotechnology Journal and Advanced Genetics, Wiley – What do we mean by “open access”?
Manuela da Silva, Fiocruz; David Nicholson, Wellcome Sanger Institute – Overview of the CBD policy options matrix – how do they measure up?
Derek Eaton, Smart Prosperity Institute – Thinking through the economic implications of the policy options
Understanding the use of DSI in research and the role of open access
o Sarah Hearne, CIMMYT – The case of wheat and maize
o Christine Prat, European Virus Archive – Using DSI for public health
Q&A

Biennial AAB Presidential Look-Forward: Nature-based and engineered biology solutions to climate mitigation
2022-11-01 - 2022-11-03 | Hybrid
International conference organised by AAB. Every two-years AAB will bring together applied biologists to explore how aspects of applied biology can be used to tackle major global challenges. The focus for this 2022 event will explore how scientific discoveries can be applied to mitigate the upcoming challenges of food insecurity and climate change.
Hybrid event hosted in-person at Rothamsted Research, November 1-3 2022
This event will also host the inaugural presentation of AAB Presidential Medals. Medallists will provide an oral presentation to introduce their research and career highlights.
Confirmed AAB Presidential medallists:

Dirk Inze (VIB-Ghent)
Tina Barsby (NIAB)
Vivienne Anthony (Syngenta Foundation)
Peter Shewry (Rothamsted)

Call for Abstracts
The majority of speakers at the Biannual Presidential Look-Forward will be selected from submitted abstracts, providing an excellent opportunity for researchers to promote their research and activities. This opportunity is especially important for early career scientists.
Abstracts can be submitted in one of the 6 categories. The organisers will select speakers for each plenary session from these abstracts.
Abstract Submission Categories

Improving Photosynthesis for yield enhancement
Future Crops
Applied Silviculture
Optimising seed and root health for improved crop resilience
Development and use of New Breeding Technologies
Applied biology for nutritional security
Abstract submission deadline to be considered for an oral presentation is September 1st 2022.
Abstract submission deadline to be considered for a poster presentation is October 1st 2022.

TropAg: International Tropical Agriculture Conference
2022-10-31 - 2022-11-02 | Brisbane, Brisbane, Australia
TropAg 2022 is a three-day conference, scheduled to be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 31 October 2022 to 2 November 2022.

How will global change affect plant reproduction? A framework for mast seeding trends
2022-10-27 17:00 - 18:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Forest ecology traditionally focuses on plant growth and survival, leaving seed production as a major demographic process lacking a framework for how it will be affected by global change. Understanding plant reproductive responses to changing climate is complicated by masting, the annually variable seed production synchronized within populations. Predicting trends in masting is crucial, because masting impacts seed predation and pollination enough to override simple trends in mean seed production. Proximate mechanisms of seed production patterns in perennial plants are gathered to identify processes through which masting may be affected by a changing environment. Predicting trends in masting will require understanding the mechanisms that cause predictable seed failure after high-seed years, and the stochastic mechanisms that synchronize individuals in high-seed years.
—-
Michal Bogdziewicz is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Environmental Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU) in Poznan, Poland. Michal’s research program involves several forest ecology subfields, including interactions between plants and animals (both seed consumers and seed dispersers), and mechanisms driving variation in plant fecundity. A major focus of the work is to understand proximate and ultimate drivers of mast seeding, socioecological consequences of pulsed reproduction, and the climate change impacts on seed production and recruitment.
Michal obtained his BSc in Biology (2010) and his MSc in Ecology (2012) from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland. His PhD thesis was jointly supervised by Rafal Zwolak (AMU) and Elizabeth Crone (Tufts University, MA, USA). After completing his PhD, Michal moved to Barcelona and undertook two postdoctoral positions at CREAF, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. He is currently a Bekker Fellow at LESSEM, at INRAE in Grenoble (France) where he works in the Mast Inference and Prediction (MASTIF) project led by James Clark (Duke University, NC, USA). Starting in 2023, he will head the newly established, ERC-funded, Forest Biology Centre at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan.

"Genome Editing in Plants" Online lecture series: Prof. Daniel Voytas and Dr. Concetta Licciardello
2022-10-26 16:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Madrid) | Online
COST Action CA18111 “Genome Editing in Plants” Online lecture series

PlantEd is organising an online lecture series on genome editing in plants, with many high-profile speakers. The series, which is organised by PlantEd WG1 leaders Dr Goetz Hensel and Dr Katrijn Van Laere will continue regularly until the end of 2022 and be organised via Zoom. A separate announcement will be sent out to the PlantEd network before each event, and also updated here on the website and posted on the PlantEd Twitter account (@COST_PlantEd).

Prof. Dan Voytas, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, Center for Precision Plant Genomics, University of Minnesota, USA. Title: Overcoming bottlenecks in plant gene editing.
Dr. Concetta Licciardello, Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (CREA), Centro di ricerca Olivicoltura Frutticoltura Agrumicoltura (OFA), Italy. Title: Two case studies to improve citrus fruit quality by using the New Plant Breeding Techniques.
Here is the announcement for the 5th event, incl an introduction to the speakers together with registration link: announcement October 26

Novelties, Frauds, and Protections: The Fruit Business in Ninteenth-Century America
2022-10-18 09:00 - 10:00 (Australia/Brisbane) | Online
Speaker: Professor Daniel Kevles, Yale University​
In the United States through the 1830s, commercial fruit nurseries were few in number, served largely local markets, and, facing little competition, did little in their catalogues to differentiate and brand their products. Beginning in the 1820s, the transportation revolution, the migrations westward, and the creation of relentlessly expanding markets steadily enlarged competition and put a premium on the innovation of novel fruits. Plants were not patentable at the time. Plant nurseries, hitherto members of close-knit local communities, had tended to rely on mutual trust to prevent the appropriation of their innovations. However, operating in increasingly impersonal regional and national markets they sought to protect their investments in the creation or acquisition of novelties by branding their products. Still, cheats could offer fraudulent or adulterated fruit trees or vines under the branded name, and purchasers would be none the wiser because it was virtually impossible to tell simply by inspection what plant or plant quality young trees or vines would eventually produce.
From the 1830s through the rest of the century, purveyors of innovations developed a variety of strategies to protect their brands. The strategies were well exemplified by several prominent nurseries, notably Ellwanger and Barry’s, in Rochester, New York; Charles Hovey’s, in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Luther Burbank’s, in Santa Rosa, California. They emphasized in their catalogues the importance of purchasing only from reliable sources, included testimonials from happy customers, and provided lithographs – first black and white, then in color – of their branded fruits. Still, thieves of new fruit trees and vines could simply clone them and sell them under another brand name. In the face of that biological loophole, their originators charged exceptionally high prices for first sales, hoping therein to recoup the downstream revenues they would lose to appropriation. They also employed traveling salesmen to sell their trees and vines, instructed them to gain trust by behaving in a moral, upright manner, and equipped them with sample books that presented in full color the fruits purchasers would get if they bought and planted the nursery’s trees and vines. By the late nineteenth century, finding these protective strategies increasing inadequate, nurserymen began agitating for national legal protection of their branded novelties through trademarks and patents.
Date and time: 9 AM, 18 October 2022 AEST (Time Converter for your location), 1 hour duration
Location: Online Lecture via Zoom
Go check the People, Plants and the Law Online Lecture Series

11th International Oat Conference – OAT2022
2022-10-10 - 2022-10-13 | Perth, Perth, Australia
The Grain Industry Association of Western Australia (GIWA) and the International Oat Organising Committee organize the 11th international Oat Conference to be held in Perth, Western Australia from 10th to 13th October 2022.
OAT2022 will be a hybrid event; and registrations can be made for in person or virtual attendance. In the event travel is restricted and you are registered to attend in person, you may change to a virtual registration and be refunded the difference provided you notify GIWA in writing by Friday, 9th September 2022.
Submit an Abstract to present at OAT2022. Abstracts featuring oat research as well as topical oat industry information are welcomed. Presentations at the International Oat Conference can be made in person or virtually, however in-person presentations are preferred. Visit the conference website https://www.internationaloat.com/ to download the OAT2022 Science and Industry abstract templates. Once completed, please email to admin@giwa.org.au. Abstracts close on Thursday, 31 March 2022.
Submission deadline (extended): 15 May 2022

Integrating plant physiology and community ecology across scales through trait-based models to predict drought mortality
2022-10-06 17:00 - 18:00 (Europe/London) | Online
Forests are a critical carbon sink and widespread tree mortality resulting from climate-induced drought stress has the potential to alter forests from a carbon sink to a source, causing a positive feedback on climate change. Process-based vegetation models aim to represent the current understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing plant physiological and ecological responses to climate. Yet model accuracy varies across scales, and regional-scale model predictive skill is frequently poor when compared with observations of drought-driven mortality. Anna proposes a framework that leverages differences in model predictive skill across spatial scales, mismatches between model predictions and observations, and differences in the mechanisms included and absent across models to advance the understanding of the physiological and ecological processes driving observed patterns drought-driven mortality.
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Anna T. Trugman is an ecologist with a multidisciplinary background in the Earth sciences. Her research interests are centred around understanding the Earth system consequences of plant physiological processes and ecological interactions, particularly in water limited systems and novel climate conditions expected with anthropogenic climate change. Her research spans spatial scales from plant organs to the globe, and utilizes techniques including ecological modelling, field measurements, and environmental data science. Anna received her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University (Stanford, CA, USA) in Geological and Environmental Sciences, her PhD from Princeton University (Princeton, NJ, USA) in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, and spent two years at the University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT, USA) in the Biology Department where she was awarded an independent United States Department of Agriculture Postdoctoral Fellowship for studying forest drought vulnerability with climate change. She has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara (CA, USA) since 2019.

4th International Conference on Plant Biology (23rd SPPS Meeting) by the Serbian Society of Plant Physiology
2022-10-06 - 2022-10-08 | Hybrid
Save the date for the upcoming 4th International Conference on Plant Biology (23rd SPPS Meeting) organized by the Serbian Society of Plant Physiology!
The conference will be held in Belgrade, from 6th to 8th October 2022. During the upcoming meeting, an important jubilee will be marked – 50th anniversary of the founding of the Serbian Plant Physiology Society (SPPS). We hope that all of you will be able to travel and join us on this exciting celebration.
This year’s conference will be organized as a hybrid event, providing you the option of participating in person or virtually. Come to Belgrade to enjoy a full and rich conference experience and program, or enjoy live streamed sessions, directly from the conference venue. All conference presentations, either an oral or a poster, will be available both in place and through conference platform.
For those who are able to join us in Belgrade, the hybrid format will allow you to:

Attend the full range of scientific sessions and accompanying events
Interact face-to-face with speakers and experts on the field
Network with colleagues
Experience well known Serbian hospitality
Access all online contents for three months after the congress (until the end of December, 2022)

For those who cannot travel or prefer to enjoy the congress online, the online format will allow you to:

Follow scientific sessions by livestream anywhere in the world
Participate in online interactive features and Q&A
Connect to colleagues through the Conference internet platform
Access all online contents for three months after the congress (until the end of December, 2022)
