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What Does the Future Hold for APS? John Sherwood, APS President, sherwood@uga.edu Happy new year, and perhaps, happy new decade. There is nothing like trivia to stir the blogosphere, and under current debate is if we have just ended the first decade of the new millennium or are already in year two. At any rate, as this comes to press I am approximately midway through my term as president of our society, and our new governance structure has been in place approximately six months. I want to take this opportunity to bring the membership up to date on activities underway in our society. The infamous quote, “Prediction is very hard, especially about the future,” is attributed to Yogi Berra. Scientists are often asked what the future may hold, and we often try to make predictions based on the data we have in John Sherwood hand that was generated to answer questions we thought were important at the time. In a recent article in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (8:219-236; doi:10.3763/ijas.2010.0534) some 50 authors provide “the top 100 questions of importance to the future of global agriculture.” The purpose of this exercise was to “guide policy makers involved in directing future agricultural policy and research.” The authors identified four overarching areas under which the questions are listed: 1) natural resource inputs, 2) agronomic practice, 3) agricultural development, and 4) markets and consumption. As one might expect in such a broadly based treatise, “pest and disease management” was a subheading in “agronomic practice” with four questions raised concerning plant health and plant diseases. Perhaps a more fundamental question is, “From where will the talent arise that will be able to answer the 100 questions?” APS has been bringing attention to this question for several years through activities led by James MacDonald, David Gadoury, and most recently, James Moyer. Over the last year, Moyer has facilitated keeping together a coalition of approximately 30 diverse scientific societies and industries to support an initiative coined the Coalition for a Sustainable Agricultural Workforce (CSAW) (www.sustainableagworkforce.org) that seeks federal investment in core educational programs to support K-12, undergraduate, and graduate programs in agricultural sciences. This issue was featured in the November issue of Ag Professional (54[11]:34-36) and a brief overview by Moyer is also included in this issue of Phytopathology News on page 5. CSAW and other discussions on education have raised the visibility of the society’s initiatives and ongoing programs related to education. Hence, APS Council is moving forward in establishing an Office of Education that will be similar in scope and responsibility to the other boards and offices of APS. This is planned to come to fruition at the beginning of the next presidential term. The APS Public Policy Board (PPB) completed a strategic planning activity at the beginning of December 2010, and the outcome of those discussions will be presented in an upcoming issue of Phytopathology News. PPB has been active in conveying the concerns of the plant pathology community on the abrupt change in the Request for Applications for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative in the nascent National Institute of Food and Agriculture. In addition, PPB continues to address issues relevant to plant pathology in food safety and culture collections and respond to regulatory issues that can or will impact the programs of plant pathologists. PPB has a
News 2011 APS-IPPC Joint Meeting Call for Papers Secure your place in the program! Submit your oral technical and poster abstracts February 1 – March 15 to be a part of the program in Honolulu, HI! Plan ahead and join APS in Hawaii! Housing is open. APS has negotiated significantly discounted rates at two hotels, the Hilton Hawaiian Village starting at $185 per night and the Doubletree Alana Waikiki starting at $172 per night. These rates are offered based on availability three days before APS•IPPC and three days after Joint Meeting the meeting. August 6–10 Registration opens Honolulu, Hawaii in February. Visit www.apsnet.org/meet for more information. n
2011
January 2011 • Volume 45 • Number 1
Collaborative Agreement with CSPP Renewed in 2011 Recently, APS and the Chinese Society for Plant Pathology (CSPP) renewed their collaborative agreement through November 2013 to facilitate interactions and increase sharing of science between APS and CSPP members. Through a special agreement between the two societies, APS and CSPP members are developing joint symposia, sharing cooperative memberships, and creating new initiatives for effective interactions. More about this opportunity is available on APSnet at www.apsnet.org/about/join/benefits/ Pages/CSPP.aspx. n
What Does the Future Hold for APS continued on page 3
In this Issue Editor’s Corner ............................................ 2 Letter to the Editor ..................................... 3 Committee Spotlight ................................... 3 APS Foundation .......................................... 6
Public Policy Board ..................................... 9 APS Annual Report .................................. 10 Outreach ................................................... 15 People ....................................................... 16
Classifieds .................................................. 18 APS Journal Articles .................................. 19 Calendar of Events .................................... 20