Johnston, Iowa, USA
August 26, 2010
On Aug. 15, 2010, the National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) inaugurated Dr. Todd Wehner (NCSU) as its first president. Over 190 public and private plant breeders, government representatives and graduate students from across the United States were hosted by Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, in Johnston, IA for the 4th Annual Meeting of the Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee (PBCC) in a joint meeting with the NAPB.
World Food prize laureate and sorghum breeder, Dr. Gebisa Ejeta, from Purdue University opened the meeting speaking on the importance of land grant universities and their mission to provide education and training in agriculture, science and engineering.
The 2009 Early Career Scientist Award winner, Dr. Stacy Bonos (photo right) from Rutgers University, presented her work on pest resistance in turfgrass and biofuels crops. Dr. Yanqi Wu, a forage and turfgrass breeder from Oklahoma State University received the 2010 Early Career Plant Breeder Award.
Dr. James Brewbaker, University of Hawaii received the Lifetime Achievement Award for the 50 years of dedication to breeding corn and sorghum in the tropics. The results of a comprehensive study on the educational requirements for training plant breeders were released. The meeting covered research topics in plant breeding and concluded with a field tour and visit to the USDA Plant Introduction Station in Ames, IA.
For further information, please contact Allen Van Deynze at 530-754-6444 or visit http://www.plantbreeding.org.
The Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee is SCC80, a multi-state project. It is national in scope but administered by the Southern Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors, in cooperation with the National Institute for Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The PBCC provides expertise and a forum for discussion, organization, action and leadership on matters affecting long-term U.S. plant breeding capacities, including research and education, and their relevance to current and future national needs. The NAPB represents and advocates for plant breeders in the USA working in the public and private sectors.
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