Short Course at Colorado State University: PLANT BREEDING FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE
Moisture deficits loom as one of the greatest challenges to future
crop production, both in rainfed and irrigated agriculture. Enhancing
the genetic tolerance of crops to drought stress, together with
improved agronomic practices, is considered an essential strategy for
addressing these deficits. To respond to the need for more plant
scientists trained in developing drought tolerant cultivars, Colorado
State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Oklahoma State
University will offer a short course in Plant Breeding for Drought
Tolerance June 14-25, 2010. The course will be held at Colorado State
University in Fort Collins and at experimental field sites in Eastern
Colorado and Western Nebraska.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The course is targeted to graduate students in the plant sciences, as
well as to professionals in the public and private sectors. It will
provide three transferable graduate-level credits.
CONTENT
The course will consist of classroom lectures, hands-on lab
exercises, and field research activities appropriate for a drought
breeding and genetics program. Course activities are designed around
three modules:
* Whole Plant Physiology of Drought Stress
* Plant Breeding for Drought Stress Tolerance
* Genomic Approaches to Drought Stress Tolerance
The course format will include several days at field sites in
Colorado and Nebraska with intermittent classroom lectures and
discussion. We will emphasize hands-on exercises to provide practical
experience in a drought tolerance breeding program. Eight instructors
from four universities, each with a different specialty in plant
sciences will lecture both in the classroom and at the field sites.
Visits to private sector breeding programs will also be included. The
course will be given in English.
PREREQUISITES
Participants should have a solid understanding of basic plant
physiology and genetics. Prior to the short course, students will
review online material on these topics to provide a common background
in breeding and physiology concepts.
PROGRAM COSTS
The cost of student tuition and fees is $1,687. Accommodations for
room and board are available on-campus for either $600 (double
occupancy) or $775 (single occupancy). This cost includes three meals
daily. Guests are also welcome to make their own arrangements for
room and board. All foreign visas and travel arrangements are at
students' initiative and expense.
FUNDING
Partial funding for the course is provided by a grant from the
USDA-CSREES-NRI Plant Breeding and Education program.
SYMPOSIUM
The course will culminate in a two-day symposium, open to the public,
on Plant Breeding for Drought Tolerance research, which will include
lectures from invited speakers covering the topics of Applied
Breeding, Biotechnology, Genetics, and Physiology. The keynote
address is to be given by world-renowned scientist Richard
Richards. Other presentations will be given by Robert Tuberosa
(University of Bologna), Renee Lafitte (University of California),
Rachid Serraj (International Rice Research Institute), and from many
other top scientists in the field of plant breeding for drought
tolerance. The cost of the two-day symposium is included in the
course fee. The cost for attendees not registered for the course
prior to April 1, 2010 is $150 for non-students, $100 for students.
REGISTRATION AND INFORMATION
Participants may apply online
(<http://www.droughtadaptation.org/>http://www.droughtadaptation.org)
beginning December 1, 2009. Interested students are encouraged to
visit the course website for more details, or send an email to the
Program Assistant, Annie Heiliger, at
<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] with questions.
--
Annie Heiliger
Research Associate
Bioagricultural Science and Pest Management
College of Agricultural Science
Colorado State University
(970) 491-0588
<http://www.droughtadaptation.org>http://www.droughtadaptation.org
http://www.mckaylab.colostate.edu
