FYI -- Distinguished Lecture 4/09/08

The fifth lecture in the Distinguished Lecture Series sponsored by the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture will be presented by Dr. Peter Bretting, the USDA/ARS National Program Leader for Plant Germplasm and Genomes. The title of his Lecture is Horticultural Genetic Resources: Current Status and Future Prospects.

A reception will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the Horticulture/Forest Science Building atrium on Wednesday, April 9, followed by his Lecture at 3:00 p.m. in room 102 HFSB on the West Campus of Texas A&M University.

Dr. Bretting has been USDA/ARS National Program Leader, Plant Germplasm and Genomes since 1998, and was promoted to the rank of Senior National Program Leader in 2004. This position involves co-leadership, coordination, and direction of a national program of crop genetic research conducted at more than 50 locations nationally, with an annual budget of approximately $120 million.

He also serves as a USDA representative for the US government delegations negotiating the UN-FAO International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and the UN-UNEP Convention on Biological Diversity.

His areas of research specialization and professional interest include: 1) Administration and management of scientific research, development, and service organizations; 2) Plant genetic resource management, emphasizing statistical genetic and molecular marker approaches to managing germplasm; 3) Crop genetics, genomics, systematics, and economic botany, with particular emphasis on maize, sunflowers, and new crops, especially ornamentals. He is the co-editor of one book and a collection of papers, and the author or coauthor of numerous scientific publications.

Click here to view the online Distinguished Lecture announcement. Please feel free to distribute this announcement to whom you deem appropriate.