Purdue University and DuPont Pioneer are teaming up to host the first Purdue Plant Science Symposium.  This event is part of a series co-sponsored by DuPont and various university around the globe.  The program was designed to improve collaboration and problem-solving between universities, government organizations, and agriculture.  The symposium at Purdue will be held on August 4, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship.  The theme will be “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Abiotic Stress.”

“The main goal of the symposium is to build interdisciplinary partnerships within the plant sciences,” said Heather Pasley, a doctorate student in agronomy. “We hope to inspire the research that will improve abiotic stress tolerance in plants and close the global yield gap.”

The global yield gap is a gauge of how well global food production is keeping up with demand. It is measured by a number of factors such as abiotic stress, which is stress inflicted on living organisms by nonliving substances or forces. Abiotic stress can be caused by wind, heat or cold, or natural disasters.

Speakers at the symposium will include researchers from Purdue, the universities of Missouri and Nebraska, DuPont Pioneer and the Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo, or International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. Events will include roundtable discussions, networking opportunities, a tour of Purdue’s new phenotyping facility and a graduate student poster session.

Registration is free and open to all.  Organizers hope for participation from those involved in all areas of agriculture.

“We are hoping these symposia are one way to work together to address complex issues like food security and abiotic stress,” Pasley said. “We want to create networks among graduate schools and dialogue between public and private sectors.”

A poster competition will be open to graduate and postdoctoral ag students from any university.  The top three prizes are $300, $200, and $100 respectively.

For more information, contact Pasley, hpasley@purdue.edu, or visit the symposium Facebook page at http://bit.ly/28Pa5wv.