Employment opportunities, new event, Plant Biology 2017 Travel Award and October GPC e-bulletin

If you have news you would like us to share on our website, please contact lisa@globalplantcouncil.org 

Sharon Gray Memorial Fund
Friends and colleagues of Dr Sharon Gray – a plant science postdoc from the University of California, Davis, who was tragically killed in Ethiopia earlier this month – have established a memorial fund. The fund will be used to establish a fellowship in Dr Gray’s honor.

In New Phytologist: Scientists Root for More Cassava Research to Help Meet Greater Demand for Food
A new review brings together research on the potential for improving cassava yields, such as by boosting the efficiency with which the plant captures sunlight and converts it into sugars.

In Journal of Experimental Botany: How To Build Beautiful Biochemical Factories
New research and an accompanying Insight article shed new light on the regulation of glandular trichome development in plants.

In Current Plant Biology: Special Issue on Protein Networks
Our newest journal sponsors have a new special issue, which focuses on protein networks – in particular, the centrality of proteins in the study of fundamental aspects of plant biology and plant interface with abiotic and biotic factors in the environment. 

In Nature Plants: New Strategy to Accelerate Plant Breeding by Turbocharging Gene Banks
A new study led by an Iowa State University agronomist may help scientists sift through vast amounts of plant seeds stored in gene bank facilities across the globe to identify those useful to plant breeders attempting to produce better varieties.

If you have a conference, meeting, workshop, training course or other event coming up, we can include it in our Events calendar! Please email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

4th International Plant Phenotyping Symposium
13–15 December 2016. El Batán, Mexico. 

International Conference on Plant Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering
16–18 December 2016. Miami, Florida, USA. 

Lots of new reports, and an archive of useful documents from the last few years, are available on our website. Head to the Resources page and click ‘Reports’.

Online Sales of Threatened Cacti Highlight Open Door for Illegal Trade
Threatened cacti are available on websites and shipped across countries without any legal documents to certify their trade. A study published in Nature Conservation reports on this activity and discusses assessment methods and solutions.

Report Provides Options for Organic Soybean Growers
Despite soybean being one of the most widely grown crops in the US, few soybean farmers use organic practices. A new  report details organic products and practices to combat pathogens and insect pests.

Spotted a funding opportunity we’ve missed? Please tell us about it by emailing lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Would you like to contribute an article to the GPC’s blog? Please get in touch! Email lisa@globalplantcouncil.org

Farming Futures: integrating plant research and industry in the agri-food supply chain
Tim Williams, Business Manager of Farming Futures and Research Fund Development Manager at Aberystwyth University, UK, tells us all about how Farming Futures links researchers with industry. 

Click here for details of the GPC Member Societies and Affiliates and their representatives. 

Please contact Ruth Bastow (ruth@globalplantcouncil.org) to find out how your organization can join the Global Plant Council.