What would Erna Bennett do? Go to it, for sure. You do too, if you can. And blog it for us, naturally.
Think of an app, win a trip to Delhi
What’s that you say? You do have some ideas for mobile phone apps in support of agrobiodiversity for development? Well, maybe you can win a trip to New Delhi to present it to the 3rd International Conference on Mobile Communication on Development. But you’ll have to hurry.
Contacting Trevor Williams
We have received a request from Roger Croston to post the following on the blog, and are happy to do so. Trevor Williams was the first director of the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (now Bioversity International), and another significant figure in the early days of the PGR conservation movement.
After searching for many years I am now back in contact with Trevor
Williams — best known to many as “JT”.
He is now back in England at his Stockport address for those who have
it. I would also be more than happy to forward messages to him on
anyone’s behalf. Please give me your postal address and ‘phone numbers
so that he can reply. JT is currently not on email. He is most keen to
hear from friends and colleagues. (He had been in intensive care in
hospital with breathing difficulties but he is now home and is gradually
improving, I am pleased to say).
Email: rogerc “at” croston-engineering “dot” co “dot” uk
Erna Bennett papers
Thanks to Helmut Knüpffer of IPK Gatersleben, for his comment pointing to two important papers relating to Erna Bennett.
- Erna Bennett: Her Career and Convictions and An Interview with Erna Bennett by IS Cunningham provides an insight into some aspects of her personality and drive. (Diversity 5(2 & 3), 60-63, 1989. As with the Ceres article reprinted by The Ecologist, if you do download and skim through the whole issue, you might, like me, wonder what on Earth we’ve all been doing for the past 40 years.)
- Award of Meyer Memorial Medal to Erna Bennett of FAO, including Presentation by Dr. Ralph W. Phillips, Miss Erna Bennett’s Acceptance, and Statement by Dr. A. H. Boerma. 1971. (J. Heredity 62(5), 277-279. That one’s behind a paywall, although I reckon snagging the photo above constitutes fair use.)
Helmut also wrote: “I just went to the Mansfeld Library. There are 2292 reprints in the “Reprint Collection Erna Bennett” sorted alphabetically by author and then numbered 1-2292.” Good to know.
And a couple of other links. Grain, the NGO, published its own tribute. Grain’s archives contain a piercing essay from Erna on The Summit-to-Summit Merry-go-Round, which should be on the reading list of everyone with an interest in agricultural biodiversity and the context surrounding its conservation and use.
Social networking success stories
I think the time has come to acknowledge the great work that Sue Grimbly is doing at the SCI’s Horticulture Technical Interest Group on Facebook. Consistently interesting posting. And since I’m at it, let me also mention another Facebook group, Radix Root Crops, “[i]ndependent plant breeders collaborating to bring new root and tuber crops into cultivation in temperate climates.” The passion really comes through. But is it the beginning of the revolution?