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UK Plant Sciences conference comes to Dundee


United Kingdom
April 16, 2013

Leaf
Britain boasts strengths across the range of plant sciences and UK PlantSci is designed to facilitate and enhance collaborations

Plant science experts from across the country are gathering in Dundee for the annual UK Plant Sciences Federation conference UK PlantSci 2013. Almost 200 delegates are expected to attend the two day event being held at the University of Dundee on 16-17 April.

Nigel Kerby, Managing Director of Mylnefield Research Services, a commercial affiliate of the James Hutton Institute, will address the conference tomorrow on “Creating Impact through Science and Innovation”. His talk will discuss the importance of plant breeding and the role MRS is playing in training the next generation of plant breeders.

Also speaking at the conference are Professor Paul Birch, James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee, on “Disease or Disease Resistance? Pathogen Effectors that Act Inside Plant Cells to Trigger or Suppress Host Immunity” and Professor Claire Halpin, University of Dundee, based at the James Hutton Institute, on “Spinning Straw into Gold: Barley, Biofuels and Biosequestration”.

UK PlantSci 2013 will showcase the wealth of plant sciences undertaken in the UK, covering topics from conservation to crop improvement. The UK Plant Sciences Federation (UKPSF), a special interest group of the Society of Biology, organises UK PlantSci 2013 to provide all those working in the plant sciences with the opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise.

The conference’s broad-ranging programme includes sessions on Ecology, the Environment and Biosphere, Adapting to Environments, Plant Protection and Defence, Biology to Benefit Society and Plants as Producers.

UKPSF Chair, Professor Jim Beynon, says: “This wide range of themes demonstrates the importance and diversity of plant science in the UK. The meeting will be attended by cell biologists, physiologists, ecologists, plant breeders, agriculturists and many more. Britain boasts strengths across the range of plant sciences, and UK PlantSci is designed to facilitate and enhance collaborations. We achieve most when we work together.”

Plant science is integral to meeting global sustainability challenges, and this year’s overarching theme is “Plant Science in a Changing World”. The conference will open with a keynote speech on “Feeding 10 Billion People on a Finite Planet” by Professor Charles Godfray, Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food at the University of Oxford.

Professor Godfray’s interests include how the global food system will need to change and adapt to the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, and in particular in the concept of sustainable intensification and the relationship between food production, ecosystems services and biodiversity.

Inspiring future generations will be another key topic of discussion, with presentations and a stand dedicated to education, outreach and careers resources. The meeting programme will also feature the launch of a new plant science careers leaflet, produced by the Society for Experimental Biology and the Gatsby Plant Science Summer School Project.

The UK Plant Sciences Federation is a special interest group of the Society of Biology which acts as an umbrella body for organisations and research groups covering all aspects of UK plant biology.

The annual meeting of the Monogram Network, UK based researchers with an active interest in small grain cereal and grass, will also be held in Dundee on 18-19 April following the UK PlantSci conference. It has been jointly organised by the James Hutton Institute and the University of Dundee.

The Monogram Network meeting will be opened with the Discovery Lecture delivered by Dr Catherine Feuillet, Research Director of the Institut National de la Recherch Agronomique (INRA), France. The lecture "Feeding the world: recipes from the bread wheat genome" will take place at 4.30pm on Wednesday 17 April 2013 in Lecture Theatre 3, Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee. It is free to attend and booking is not required.



More news from: James Hutton Institute


Website: http://www.hutton.ac.uk

Published: April 16, 2013

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