Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The "6th International Workshop on the Genetics of Tree-Parasite Interactions: Tree Resistance to Insects and Diseases: Putting Promise into Practice" attracted a diverse group of scientists from around the world (including participants from 17 countries) to share current research and build future collaborations related to tree resistance to insects and diseases. This included a mix of fundamental biologists and tree breeders, fostering collaborative research and focused discussion on the biology and genetics of invasive forest tree pests/pathogens and their hosts. Attendees included individuals at a wide range of career stages, from internationally recognized senior scientists to students. A post-conference survey of attendees indicated the following conference demographics: Gender: 44% male, 42% female, 2% non-binary, 2% intergender, 10% prefer not to say Race: 80% white or caucasian, 4% black, African, or African American, 2% latino or hispanic, 12% don't know or prefer not to say Ethnicity: 6% latino or hispanic Age: 6% under 25, 31% 25-40, 33% 40-55, 18% 55-70, 2% over 70, 10% prefer not to say Changes/Problems:Due to the late release of funds for this conference several anticipated international speakers were not able to attend due to challenges in arranging travel and being awarded visas. This was especially true for more junior scientists and graduate students and we did not fund as many as we had initially hoped for and budgeted. Because of this, a small amount of funding remained from what was initially awarded. To use these within the spirit of the proposal (and with approval of the program coordinator) these funds were contributed towards supporting graduate student attendance at the next meeting in this series, planned for Spain 2020, of approximately 6 students at $486/ each (~$2,918.14). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided??The structure of conference and the range of attendees provided an excellent avenue for sharing information and sparking collaboration. The workshop-style format encouraged integration of ideas and knowledge from classical and emerging technological advances in breeding of pest/pathogen resistant forest tree species and ample time for discussion after and between speakers (with no concurrent sessions) resulted in far more discussion than at most meetings. Invitation of conference presenters prioritized inclusion of young scientists and those from economically disadvantaged countries to facilitate their professional development and provide an opportunity to share their work with scientists internationally. Other professional development and networking opportunities were included in meeting structure such as a poster session, field trip, shared meals, and evening socials. The scope of the opportunity provided for training and professional development is also reflected in numbers on attendance and presentation including: 97 attendees from 17 countries (USA, Canada, UK, South Korea, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, Ireland, Finland, Australia, Portugal, Costa Rica, Israel, Italy, Sweden, Czech Republic, Nigeria) 5 days of research presentations and discussions 57 presentations given in 13 themed sessions, 33 poster presentations, field tours of 2 sites Funding support provided for 23 people including 10 postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Publiclyaccessible website Special issue of the journal Plants People Planet profiling research presented at this meeting Proceedings are being compiled and will be publicly available, posted on the conference webpage and sent to attendees. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
All of the proposed objectives were met for this conference including: Providing a forum for world experts on invasive insects and diseases of forest trees and forest tree resistance genetics to discuss the challenges facing healthy sustainability and expansion of native, managed, and urban forests worldwide Providing a forum for updating progress made in identifying and understanding genetic resistance to invasive insects and diseases of forest trees with focused examples from around the globe of "promise to practice" in development of resistant trees and their implementation Providing opportunities for scientists to reflect and strategize solutions to current invasive insect and disease problems while at the same time fostering collaborations on proactive approaches that integrate fundamental and applied research in preparation for future challenges, strengthening the global network of those focusing on genetic resistance in trees Providing a venue for young scientists to showcase their work and interact with world experts as both an educational experience and an essential part of their career development This conference was carefully structured to provide ample opportunity for discussion of challenges and reflection and strategizing solutions. Each session of the conference (13 sessions overall) consisted of a limited number of themed talks (~4) followed by a moderated discussion session with guiding questions to facilitate this communication. Special presentations throughout the conference and designated discussion sessions were also geared at addressing the history, current state, and future directions in research. In addition, there were no concurrent talks to maximize participant exposure to a broad range of related topics and the meeting location at a remote retreat contributed to the high level of engagement of attendees at this conference. A post-conference survey of attendees attests to these successes with 100% of attendees who responded (50 total) indicating very high overall satisfaction with the conference (responding (4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale with 5 being highest). In particular, 98% of attendees rated the workshop format and session topics as very high quality and 96% of attendees rated the presentations as very high quality. Excitement at this conference also resulted in plans for a follow-up conference, 2020 in Spain:https://www.efi.int/events/7th-iufro-international-workshop-genetics-tree-parasite-interactions-forestry-2020-09-21
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
https://treeresistance2018.ca.uky.edu/
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