News & Events
Pine Genome Initiative Event Sponsored by the American Forest & Paper Association
On December 6, a special meeting is being held to advance tangible social benefits of the Pine Genome Initiative (PGI) over the next two years. A strategic planning session of the PGI Implementation Committee will be followed by a presentation session. Distinguished professor and member of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Ronald Sederoff, will present his whitepaper discussing the real-world benefits of knowing the biology of pines at the genetic level. University experts in forest biotechnology, such as Dr. Jeff Dean, and representatives from the forest products industry and non-profit organizations will also be in attendance.
Partner Meeting
Species Protection through Disease Resistance: Moving from the Lab to the Field. November 28, Raleigh, NC. The Institute of Forest Biotechnology will be holding its first Partners meeting on November 28 in Raleigh, NC. This meeting will focus on opportunities to protect threatened tree species and strategies to expand field testing. A full agenda is available online. This meeting is only open to IFB’s Partners. Learn more about the benefits the Forest Biotechnology Partnership.
In addition to IFB’s day-long meeting, The Partnership for Saving Threatened Forests will be holding a meeting the following day, on November 29th, in Raleigh, NC. Information about this meeting is available online at www.threatenedforests.com
Partner Dinner
The IFB is kicking off the fully integrated operations of the Forest Biotechnology Partnership with a Partner dinner the evening of November, 27. We will be discussiong the 2-year strategic plan for the IFB and getting crucial feedback from Partners. Learn more about the benefits the Forest Biotechnology Partnership.
GE Trees Workshop
A workshop identifying priorities for ecological risk assessment was held May 3 – 4, 2007 in Raleigh, NC. The workshop was convened by the IFB and sponsored by The Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture.
The purpose of the workshop was to establish research priorities with a clear scope and broad-based buy-in to address the most urgent ecological risk questions for genetically engineered trees. Parameters to accomplish this included: what baseline information exists for assessing the environmental impact of genetically engineered trees; what comparators are appropriate; what constitutes a negative or positive effect; and what is an appropriate research timeline.
Institute Names President
Adam Costanza has been named President of the Institute of Forest Biotechnology. Announcement