Past Symposia
The annual Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Biotechnology (PBGB) symposium is organized by Michigan State University graduate students. The symposium features presentations by plant scientists across many disciplines communicating their research with MSU graduate students and faculty. Invited speakers have had research interests in plant and animal breeding, genetics, genomics, molecular biology, agronomy, horticulture, ecology, and nutrition. This event provides an opportunity for graduate students to hone their organizational and personal skills while also learning from and exchanging ideas with renowned researchers. In 2019, we were thrilled to join the Corteva Plant Sciences Symposia Series.
2022 Symposium: Reproductive Plant Biology
December 16th, 2022
Invited Speakers:
- Peggy Ozias-Akins, University of Georgia
- Sarah Carey, HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology
- Patricia Bedinger, Colorado State University
- Sreekala Chellamma,Corteva Agriscience
2021 Symposium: Orphan Crop Breeding for Diverse and Sustainable Food Options
December 9-10th, 2021
Invited Speakers:
- Jonathan Fresnedo Ramirez, Ohio State University
- Joyce Van Eck, Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) at Cornell University
- Margaret Worthington, University of Arkansas
- Krista Isaacs, Michigan State University
- Natalie Mueller, Washington University in St. Louis
2020 Symposium: Genome Editing Applications in Plant Breeding
December 10-11th, 2020
Invited Speakers:
- Jennifer Kuzma, NC State University
- Bastiaan Bargman, Virginia Tech
- Doane Chilcoat, Corteva
- Markita Landry, UC Berkeley
2019 Graduate Student Lighting Talk Competition Awards
First Place: Philip Engelgau - Using Nanopore Sequencing to Understand Allelic Contributions to Aroma in Apples - Michigan State University
Second Place: Erik Amezquita - Mathematics Meets Plant Science - Michigan State University
Third Place: Catherine Clement - Molecular, Genomic and Cellular Characterization of Emerging Fusarium Wilt of Cotton Race 4 in Texas - Texas A&M
2019 Poster Competition Awards
First Place: Catherine Clement - Molecular, Genomic and Cellular Characterization of Emerging Fusarium Wilt of Cotton Race 4 in Texas - Texas A&M
Second Place: Ying-Chen Lin - QTL-seq of Young Fruit Resistance to Phytophthora capsici in Cucumber - Michigan State University
Third Place: Blake Trygestad - Genetic Resistance to Tar Spot (Phyllachora maydis) in Maize - Michigan State University
Annual symposium agendas are available for the past several years. Use the list below for a list of speakers and descriptions of talks.
- 2018: Facing Challenges in Plant Resilience
- 2017: Emerging Frontiers in Plant Breeding and Genetics
- 2016: The Customer is Always Right: Unraveling the Genetics of Quality Traits
- 2015: At the Forefront of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology
- 2014: Technological Advancements for Genetically Modified Specialty Crops
- 2013: Genetics of Seed Quality, Germination and Evolution
- 2012: Crop Improvement for Human Nutrition
- 2011: Improving Crop Yield in the Genomics Era
- 2010-2011: Colloquium 2011 Feeding the Future
- Video interview of speakers.
- Graduate Student Blog.
- 2009: Next Generation Genetics
- 2008: Breeding for Biomass and Biofuels
- 2007: Use of Wild Germplasm in Crop Improvement
- 2006: Transposable Elements and Genome Evolution
- 2005: Crop Improvement for Human Health
- 2004: Functional and Structural Genomics