Below is a copy of our most recent email newsletter. We invite you to subscribe or to browse previous editions. Thanks for reading!
We hope this newsletter finds you well! We have been busy launching new research projects, preparing for upcoming events, and beginning student recruitment for a new round of Trellis Fund projects. Catch up with our latest news below, and please share opportunities with your colleagues who might be interested.
Here are three immediate ways you can interact with the Horticulture Innovation Lab network:
ASHS ATTENDEES: CATCH UP WITH THE HORTICULTURE INNOVATION LAB Our team at the Horticulture Innovation Lab has been busy preparing for the American Society for Horticultural Science conference in Hawaii, to meet with our partners, colleagues, and fellow horticulture innovators. You can find members of the Horticulture Innovation Lab network in action every day at the ASHS conference.
In addition to an exhibit booth, the Horticulture Innovation Lab will host a special session, “Food and Nutrition Security in the Developing World: Challenges and Opportunities,” at 12-4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 20. Some of our network’s most talented academics and distinguished government partners will speak during the workshop, including John Bowman of USAID, Stephen Weller of Purdue University, Kate Scow of UC Davis, Thibaud Martin of CIRAD, and Gurbinder Gill of Agribusiness Associates.
Find more presentations, posters and talks from our network in the full blog post: http://bit.ly/2y0o2Bd
Let us know by email or in the blog’s comments if you will be attending, speaking or presenting a poster, so we can connect with you too!
EXPLORE OUR 5-MINUTE LESSON BLOG SERIES Lead researchers with the Horticulture Innovation Lab each presented a lightning-quick, 5-minute talk about their research at our annual meeting earlier this year, focused on useful lessons from their projects.
Now, some of our favorite “5-Minute Lessons” have been converted into blog posts that are quick to read and easy to share. Topics so far have included irrigation adoption, gender issues, postharvest lessons, pest-exclusion nets, and relationship building—and a few more informative blog posts are on their way.
Read through our 5-Minute Lesson blog series and share your favorite one: http://bit.ly/2eQXREF
GRAD STUDENTS: APPLY FOR TRELLIS FUND PROJECTS Applications are open for graduate students from UC Davis, the University of Florida, North Carolina State University and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa to apply for Trellis Fund fellowships through the Horticulture Innovation Lab. Students will support one of 15 horticultural projects in Africa or Asia as a consultant, including 2 weeks of travel to either Nepal, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda or Ghana. Oct. 27 is the deadline to apply. Please share this opportunity: http://bit.ly/2y0QVgG
*** PROGRAM UPDATES ***
INTEGRATING LIVESTOCK WITH VEGETABLE CROPS IN NEW CAMBODIA PROJECT Jessie Vipham of Kansas State University’s Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab is leading a new Horticulture Innovation Lab research project in Cambodia focused on investigating integrated vegetable-livestock systems and trade-offs: http://bit.ly/2wVn5LP
NEW APRICOT PROJECT STARTED IN TAJIKISTAN Peter Hirst of Purdue University is leading a new international team on a Horticulture Innovation Lab project focused on improving practices for dried apricots. How new apricot research can help farmers in southern Tajikistan: http://bit.ly/2vQlVhM
MITCHAM, KORNBLUTH, BENNETT HONORED FOR INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT Director Elizabeth Mitcham and our partner Kurt Kornbluth were presented with the inaugural UC Davis Chancellor’s International Engagement Awards, where partner Alan Bennett was also honored: http://bit.ly/2w2jddu
*** IN THE NEWS ***
COOLBOT WORK HIGHLIGHTED IN ‘THE HILL’ OP-ED Dan Glickman, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, highlighted the Horticulture Innovation Lab’s work with the CoolBot as an example of USAID success and American global leadership: http://bit.ly/2eQHqbn
SOIL SCIENTIST PARTNER FEATURED IN WASHINGTON POST Kate Scow of UC Davis was the focus of an article and video about healthy soil, carbon sequestration and climate change: http://wapo.st/2jk4dBM
DRY CHAIN EMPHASIZED IN NEPAL NEWSPAPER Peetambar Dahal, formerly of UC Davis and our drying beads team, is a co-author on an opinion article in The Kathmandu Post advocating for the dry chain and keeping dried food safe and dry during natural disaster response: http://bit.ly/2xZDFcb
VEGETABLES ‘GROWN RIGHT’ REACHING NEW CUSTOMERS IN CAMBODIA The Feed the Future newsletter highlighted the Horticulture Innovation Lab’s work promoting conservation agriculture to grow vegetables in Cambodia, led by Manny Reyes of Kansas State University: http://bit.ly/2gX0xVJ
DRYCARD NEWS FEATURED IN ‘SPORE’ MAGAZINE The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) featured the DryCard and related dry chain news in its English- and French-language publication: http://bit.ly/2wkMrzz
*** OPPORTUNITIES ***
ONLINE EVENT: BIFAD MEETING WITH NEW RESEARCH STRATEGYStreaming online tomorrow, Sept. 12, will be a meeting of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development that will include the launch of the new U.S. Government’s Global Food Security Research Strategy: http://bit.ly/2gXYIrm
FUNDING: CATALYZING NEW RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAMSept. 29 is the deadline to apply for $10,000 travel grants for U.S. early career scientists with colleagues in Asia, Latin America or Africa: http://bit.ly/2w1odyM
TRAINING: INTERNATIONAL VEGETABLE TRAINING COURSE Oct. 9 is the beginning of “Module I: From Seed to Harvest” in the World Vegetable Center’s annual 2-month educational course for agricultural professionals. The second half of the course, “Module II: From Harvest to Table” will begin Nov. 6: http://bit.ly/2wkyjX1
TRAINING: AWARD WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT COURSE Oct. 29 is the beginning of this week-long educational course offered by African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) and hosted by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India: http://bit.ly/2wVEhkv
***THANK YOU FOR READING! Please let us know if you have horticulture-related events or development opportunities to share for our next edition. If you are a new reader who would like to subscribe, visit: http://bit.ly/2w1ProX or if you would like to unsubscribe: http://bit.ly/2y0mtTP. Until next time, you can connect with us on Twitter @HortInnovLab, on Facebook, by email at horticulture@ucdavis.edu or on our blog: https://blog.horticulture.ucdavis.edu/.