Intellectual Merit. The 54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference will be held March 15-18, 2012 at the Doubletree Hotel and Conference Center in Portland, OR. The meeting offers members of the scientific community the opportunity to present and discuss their most recent research relevant to maize genetics and plant biology. A wide range of topics investigating the structure and function of genes, pathways, and traits are included, spanning the spectrum of maize genetics from basic studies of gene action to quantitative trait dissection to more applied topics relevant to crop improvement. The meeting will feature 45-minute talks by four invited plenary speakers: Thomas Dresselhaus, University of Regensburg; Jenny Graves, Australian National University; Bill Tracy, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Venkatesan Sundaresan, University of California - Davis. In addition, the program will include approximately 35 18-minute talks by speakers selected from submitted abstracts, and two poster sessions.
Broader Impacts. The Maize Genetics Conference provides outstanding opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to meet and interact with an international gathering of scientists in the field, to discuss their research while presenting talks or posters, and to establish scientific networks that will be valuable as they embark on their careers. Efforts to broaden participation at the meeting will occur through outreach and recruiting efforts that seek to support Conference attendance by students, postdocs and young faculty from underrepresented groups with an interest in exploring research possibilities in maize genetics. Partnering these awardees with experienced maize researchers at similar career stages will facilitate their productive participation in the Conference. The Maize Genetics Conference is unique compared to other meetings in its efforts to support attendance by all graduate student attendees.
For over 50 years, members of the Maize Genetics community have met annually to present and discuss their most recent research advances. On March 15-18, 2012, the 54th Annual Maize Genetics Conference (MGC) was held in Portland, Oregon to continue this tradition of communication and sharing that enhances research on maize, advancing basic plant biology and genetics, as well as applied aspects relevant to corn as a crop. The Conference was well-attended with 571 participants, with countries from six continents represented. Attendees were from a broad array of institutions, including large research universities, undergraduate-focused colleges, industry, and government laboratories (e.g., USDA), and included senior researchers and faculty, young investigators and postdocs, and graduate and undergraduate students. A wide range of topics related to maize genetics was represented in oral and poster presentations, including cell and developmental biology; biochemical and molecular genetics; cytoplasmic inheritance and organellar genetics; genomic approaches to genetic mapping, molecular markers, and quantitative traits; transposable element behavior and epigenetics; bioinformatics and computational approaches to genetics; and novel genetic resources. The four plenary talks brought together speakers (J. Graves, B. Tracy, V. Sundaresan, and T. Dresselhaus) of international prominence and broad experience – from mammalian genomics to plant breeding to plant sexual reproduction. Abstracts for these presentations are freely available online at www.maizegdb.org/maize_meeting/2012/. One of the goals of the meeting is to foster the collegiality and free exchange of information that has been an integral part of the Maize Genetics community, and the extensive poster sessions (316 posters) promote this atmosphere. The 2012 MGC provided an outstanding opportunity for graduate students and postdoctoral scientists to meet and interact with an international group of scientists at all career stages, to discuss their research while presenting talks or posters, and to establish scientific networks that will be valuable as they embark on their careers. The Maize Genetics Conference is unique compared to other meetings in its efforts to support attendance by all graduate student attendees. In addition, participation and high-quality presentations by graduate and postdoctoral researchers are strongly encouraged (19 out of 27 short talks were by graduate students or postdocs). At this 54th Annual MGC, NSF funding enabled strong support for this goal of promoting attendance and interactions for students. Most importantly, funding allowed establishment of a new program that seeks to recruit and retain scientists from diverse backgrounds into the maize research community by encouraging their attendance at the Conference – the MaGNET Awards (Maize Genetics Network Enhancement via Travel) - http://maizemeeting.maizegdb.org/mm2012/magnet.php. The initial year of this program funded travel for eleven participants, including undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and one accompanying faculty member. MaGNET awardees had positive responses to the program, with followup assessement indicating increased interest of awardees in maize genetics and scientific research in general. Secondly, NSF funding provided support, through subsidization of the conference meeting package, for the participation of 40 other students (9 undergraduate and 31 graduate students) defined as members of populations underrepresented in science. The Maize Genetics Community gratefully acknowledges the important role that the National Science Foundation plays in supporting broadening the community, education of the next generation of plant biologists, and the free exchange of scientific knowledge. These investments are expected to promote continued progress in the understanding of basic biology in maize, and in turn in translating that understanding to concrete improvements in agriculture.
