May 5, 2020
The BGRI is launching its 2020 series of Virtual Workshops with a 2020 Women in Triticum Award Celebration called “The Changing Face of Leadership and Research in Wheat,” in an interactive webinar, on Thursday, May 21 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. EDT (14:00-15:00 pm UTC).
“Our new Virtual Workshops are an opportunity for the global wheat community to engage with speakers from around the world,” said Maricelis Acevedo, associate director for science for the Delivering Genetic Gain in Wheat (DGGW) project, who was a 2010 WIT awardee. “In the time of Covid19, we have to be creative and proactive. We are planning a series of virtual events as we continue our efforts to strengthen the world’s resilient to rust diseases." The planned 2020 BGRI Technical Workshop in June, in Norwich UK, was canceled due to the pandemic.
Acevedo invites everyone to join in the interactive Zoom webinar through eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/102918179044, and/or watch the event live on Facebook at facebook.com/globalrust.
The 2020 WIT Early Career Awardees are Anna Backhaus (UK), Bharati Pandey (India), Yewubdar Ishetu Shewaye (Ethiopia), Paula Silva (Uruguay), and Peipeiu Zhang (China). The 2020 WIT Mentor is Evans Lagudah, from CSIRO, in Australia. (See related blog.) Short videos about each winner’s work and their passion for wheat will be played during the celebration.
The hour-long event will also feature a keynote address by World Food Prize president Barbara Stinson on “The Importance of Gender in Assuring Global Food Security.”
Sarah Davidson Evanega, who initiated the WIT Award in 2010, when she was associate director for science for the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project, will talk about “The History of the BGRI WIT Award.”
An interactive WIT Panel Discussion with four former WIT winners will be moderated by Hale Ann Tufan (WIT winner, 2010), the 2019 winner of the Norman Borlaug Field Research and Application Award from the World Food Prize. Panelists include Sandra Dunckel (2013), from KWS UK Ltd.; Sarah Battenfield (2014), from Syngenta in the US; Mercy Wamalwa (2016), from Egerton University in Kenya; and Sarrah Ben M’Barek-Ben Romdhane (2017), from the Regional Field Crops Research Center of Béja, in Tunisia.
The panelists will discuss “The Future of Wheat Research: Aspirations and Visions.” The online audience can submit questions.
Join us on May 21 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. EDT, or 14:00-15:00 pm UTC! And sign up here.
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