More online genebank training

…MSBP’s popular Seed Conservation Techniques (SCT) training course will be running from the 11th to the 22nd of October 2021. Following the Partnership’s agreed Seed Conservation Standards, the course provides trainees with the knowledge needed to collect, conserve and manage high quality ex situ collections of wild plant seeds. Topics covered will include: planning a seed collection programme, assessing and collecting techniques, post-harvest handling, measuring seed moisture content, seed processing and quality assessment, and seed germination and dormancy. After a successful first online version was piloted last year, we will again offer a fully online 2-week training course with content provided online as a mixture of live sessions, pre-recorded training modules and practical exercises.

More info on the Kew website.

Want to learn about genebanks (and much much more)?

Thanks to funding from a USDA-NIFA-Higher Education Challenge Grant Program, the good folks at Colorado State University are offering a new online course on Plant Genetic Resources- Genomes, Genebanks, and Growers. You will:

  1. Discover the origins of plant genetic resources
  2. Appreciate the role they play in global food systems
  3. Learn about plant domestication and diversification
  4. Understand their genetic properties and the forces that shape them
  5. Explore geographic patterns of plant diversity

It looks great. Find out more here. Starts in August. I’m kinda tempted to take it myself…