NPGS Training Workshop Results

In May 2017, the National Plant Germplasm Coordinating Committee (NPGCC) raised concern that an estimated 30% of USDA National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) employees would be eligible to retire during the next five years. At present, there is no overall strategy for training their replacements.

In response to this concern, a proposal titled “Planning Conference to Develop Strategies for Training the Next Generation of U.S. Plant Genebank Managers” was submitted to USDA-NIFA in July 2017 by Dr. Pat Byrne (Colorado State University) and Dr. Gayle Volk (USDA-ARS). The proposal was funded and resulted in the convening of a Plant Genebank Training workshop April 24-26, 2018 which looked at ways to train the next generation of plant genetic resource managers, researchers, students, and users. The results of the workshop have been published in Crop Science.