Workshop Proposal: Advanced Crop Improvement: meeting challenges for food security, Senegal, October 27 - Nov 9, 2019

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The AfricaRice Advanced Crop Improvement (ACI) short course will build a network of collaborative young US scientists that understand how plant science will help address global problems. The content will focus on modern crop improvement strategies, how they can be incorporated into crop improvement, and the sociological and economic issues for their acceptance by farmers and consumers. By showcasing real-world issues faced in crop production and delving deeply into state-of-the-art crop improvement methods and the controversial issues associated with their use, the ACI short course will bring the science and sociological issues alive to the participants. The participants will learn how the science of crop improvement intimately links to food security, the national and international politics of food and agriculture, and science communication, attracting them to explore career and research options in this area. Other outcomes of the workshop will be up-to-date educational materials, brief podcasts and a publishable position paper.The goal of the AfricaRice Advanced Crop Improvement (ACI) short course is to build a network of collaborative young scientists that understand the importance of innovative plant science in addressing global problems. The ACI will focus on modern improvement strategies relevant to most crop species, including genomic selection and genome editing. Classroom, lab, and field-based learning will be augmented by topical discussions on how advanced technologies and novel resources can be incorporated into crop improvement, and the sociological and economic issues for their acceptance by farmers and consumers. A team class project, in collaboration with a professional science writer/lecturer, will produce a concept note and podcasts of interviews of consumers, growers and scientists on issues related to the adoption of crops improved by various approaches. Graduates of the course will have a broader appreciation for international agriculture, collaborative approaches to science, and the possibilities for putting modern plant sciences into practice.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.