NSF Award
2426797
Achieving food security in a changing climate is a major global challenge that directly impacts the world economy welfare, environmental sustainability, and human health. Such a complex challenge requires a multidisciplinary approach and the commitment of stakeholders (government, academia, industry, non-governmental organizations, producers, and consumers). This NSF award supports graduate student participation in the Multidisciplinary Symposium at the 2024 International Tri-Society-Agronomic, Crop and Soil Science Societies (ASA, CSSA, and SSSA) Annual Conference held November 10th -13th, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. The support provides an opportunity for students from United States institutions with limited resources to attend a global conference for the first time, present their research in the oral and poster competitions, interact with researchers at different career levels, get exposed to cutting-edge technology, expand their network, and develop new collaborations with scientists from multiple disciplines. Ultimately, the selected students can incorporate the multidisciplinary approach in their current or future research projects and join the global community in fighting food insecurity. <br/><br/>The CSSA-Multidisciplinary Symposium will bring together researchers from all stages and multiple disciplines (including plant physiology, genomics, biotechnology, genetics, breeding, engineering, modeling, computational biology, and artificial intelligence (AI)) to share and discuss cutting-edge technologies, controversies, challenges, and emerging plant science research areas. The goal is to highlight the critical need for multidisciplinary research and inspire researchers to find solutions to global food security in future climates. The objectives include 1) to advance our knowledge of complex biological questions using a multidisciplinary approach, 2) to disseminate cutting-edge and emerging areas in multidisciplinary research, 3) to broaden participation and train graduate students from underrepresented groups in science, and 4) to promote collaborative academic/government/industry partnerships. The NSF conference travel grant will support 15 graduate students from US higher education institutions. The travel application will be available at the CSSA meeting website. The funds will provide travel support for outstanding graduate applicants from under-sourced universities to showcase their research at the high-reputation international conference. The proposed symposium integrates research, education, and outreach and will be open to all interested stakeholders to ensure a broad impact.<br/><br/>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.
