In this issue:
Obituary - Arthur Kelman
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Arthur Kelman, age 90, passed away on 29 June 2009. He was born in 1918 in
Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He entered the University of Rhode Island
in 1937, his interest focused on plant pathology. After he completed his
undergraduate studies, he continued to study plant pathology at North
Carolina State University at Raleigh. Though called to duty during World
War II, he returned to graduate school at North Carolina in 1946,
remaining there to complete his PhD degree and to accept a position as an
assistant professor of plant pathology in 1949. In addition to his
achievements in research, his skills as an educator and his charismatic
influence on students were recognized early in his career. He received the
award of Outstanding Instructor in the School of Agriculture in 1956. In
1961, he received a Distinguished Teacher Award and was named William Neal
Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology. During World War II,
he served for three years as a member of the Signal Intelligence Unit in
North Africa, Sicily and Italy, where he received a field commission as a
2nd Lieutenant. In 1965, he moved to the University of Wisconsin at
Madison to assume the chair of the Department of Plant Pathology. Despite
an extremely demanding schedule, he taught the basic undergraduate course
in plant pathology for many years, and in 1987, received the Amoco
Excellence in Teaching Award and the Spitzer Excellence in Teaching Award
from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. In 1975, he was named
L R Jones Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology and later served as
the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Senior Research Professor
(1985-1989). He received the E C Stakman Award, University of Minnesota,
1987; the Researcher of the Year Award, Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable
Industry, 1988; the North American Seed Potato Researcher of the Year
Award, 1988; and the University Distinguished Scholar, Department of Plant
Pathology, North Carolina State University, 1989. |
Dr Kelman also had an outstanding record of service to professional
societies, international agriculture, and to the National Academy of
Sciences, which elected him to membership in 1976. He was a major force in
the development of the International Society for Plant Pathology, and he
served as its vice president from 1968 until 1973 and as president from
1973 until 1978. Dr Kelman served as Chief Scientist, National Research
Initiative Competitive Grants Program, USDA from 1991 until 1993. In 1969,
he was made a Fellow of The American Phytopathological Society, and in
1977, he was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
received an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from the University of Rhode
Island, and was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. In
1999, he received an Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Department of
Plant Pathology, NC State University, and a similar award from the College
of Agricultural and Life Sciences, NC State University in 2000. Dr Kelman
is survived by his wife of 60 years, Helen Parker Kelman of Raleigh; his
son, Philip of New York City, NY; and many nieces and nephews.
This obituary was prepared by Arthur Kelman's family, released on 5
July 2009 in Madison, Wisconsin, and Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, and
sent to ISPP by John H Andrews, Plant Pathology Department, 1630 Linden
Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Arthur Kelman and ISPP
The late Arthur Kelman played a major role in the development of the
International Society for Plant Pathology (ISPP). During his 15 years on
the ISPP Executive from 1968, he met and helped many plant pathologists
throughout the world, who remember him for his intellectual strength,
leadership, warmth and charm. He had great insights into people. One of
his special attributes was his ability to recognize talent in other people
and to promote them for offices and committee assignments. He also
followed up on those who accepted assignments to encourage and motivate
them whenever possible.
At the first International Congress for Plant Pathology in 1968 in
London, he became Vice-President of the Society for the important period
leading to the holding of the second Congress in 1973 in Minneapolis. He
then became President of the Society and was involved in the lead-up to
August 1978 when the third Congress was held in Munich.
Early in 1978, in response to concerns about the naming of
phytopathogenic bacteria, he convened a meeting of involved persons in
Berkeley and this resulted in the creation of the important and always
active ISPP Committee on the Taxonomy of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria.
As Immediate-Past-President of the Society from late 1978, he was
involved with the Australian organisers of the fourth Congress in
Melbourne in 1983. He continued after 1983 to maintain a close interest in
the continued well-being of the Society and its leadership.
In recognition of his many contributions to the Society, he was elected
as an Honorary Member by the ISPP Council on 20 August 1988 in Kyoto.
Brian Deverall and Thor Kommedahl
Nordic Programme in Plant Pathology
"NorPath" is a new international MSc Programme in Plant
Pathology offered by a consortium of five Nordic universities in Helsinki,
Finland; Copenhagen, Denmark; Reykjavik, Iceland; Uppsala/Ultuna, Sweden;
and Ås, Norway.
The programme is a two year Mobility Programme. It gives the student an
opportunity to spend study time at two or more of the partner
universities. All study activities are offered in English. The Mobility
Programme started by enrolling students in Denmark and Norway in 2008, and
then also in Finland and Sweden for the 2009/2010 academic year.
In addition to core courses in plant pathology offered by the
university partners, there is an introductory two-week summer school
course "Plant Pathology in a changing world", which is mandatory
and is common for all students enrolled in the programme. A common course
in "Molecular Plant Pathology" was held for the first time in
February 2009.
The MSc thesis is based on a research topic, which the student
identifies in collaboration with a relevant supervisor. Students have the
opportunity to undertake laboratory or field based experiments, in close
collaboration with ongoing research groups at the participating
universities. The research topics range from molecular and post-genomic
studies of plant-microbe interactions, to epidemiology and disease
management, through biological control and disease resistance. A public or
private research organisation or company may also be involved in the
thesis work.
The participants are the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry,
Department of Applied Biology, University of Helsinki; the Faculty of Life
Sciences, Department of Plant Biology, University of Copenhagen; the
Agricultural University of Iceland, Reykjavik; the Department of Forest
Mycology and Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; and
the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University
of Life Sciences.
See: http://www.nova-university.org/NorPATH/index.htm.
Fusarium Head Blight
As an integral component of the US Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative,
the Initiative will hold its annual conference, the 2009 National Fusarium
Head Blight Forum, in December 2009. It will be held at the Wyndham
Orlando Resort on International Drive in Orlando, Florida, USA. See
"Coming Events". Growers and grower group representatives,
millers and other food processors, consumers, and scientists (public and
private) are all encouraged to attend.
Sessions will cover Management of the Disease; Food Safety, Toxicology,
and Utilization of Mycotoxin-contaminated Grain; Variety Development and
Host Resistance; Pathogen Biology and Genetics; Gene Discovery and
Engineering Resistance.
See: http://www.scabusa.org/forum09.html.
The International Mycological Association
The International Mycological Association (IMA) founded in 1971 is a
non-profit organization to encourage mycology in all its branches. The IMA
constitutes the International Union of Biological Societies (IUBS) Section
for General Mycology.
Currently the IMA is striving to provide useful information and links
on the website, to strengthen mycological integration and collaboration;
to promote open access of mycological journals and books, and to support
the flagship journals in mycology to be more competitive with those of
other sciences.
It is working to establish online repositories under the auspices and
management of the IMA.
It is acting also to establish a promotional platform for all aspects
of mycology in the IMA.
See: http://www.ima-mycology.org/.
Fungi from The Fourth Plinth
Related to the current promotional activity of the IMA is an unusual
story about Martha Crockatt in the UK. Martha has been studying fungi for
the past 6 years, first as an undergraduate student, and then towards a
recently completed PhD at Cardiff University, UK, on the ecology of rare
fungi. Throughout this time she has been amazed at how little the general
public know about fungi.
On 12 July 2009 for one hour Martha shouted, with the aid of a
megaphone, about fungi from The Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar
Square. She explained in simple terms how fungi provide food, drugs and
plants (through mycorrhizae) and more. Thereby, she hoped to send a
message to people around the world about the positive impacts that fungi
have on daily lives and on life on the planet.
Her shouting was part of a project whereby 2,400 members of the public
each could stand, speak and act legally from the plinth for an hour during
every hour of 100 days. The entire project was continuously streamed on
the internet, so people around the world could watch it live. The empty
Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square is a space normally reserved for statues
of Kings and Generals.
See: http://www.ima-mycology.org/FungusontheFourthPlinth.html.
MycoBank
MycoBank is an on-line database in which all newly described fungi and
new names of fungi can be deposited and stored along with key
nomenclatural and descriptive material. Each name is checked against a
nomenclatural database (Index Fungorum) and is given a unique reference
number. Some journals (e.g. Fungal Diversity, Mycological Research,
Mycotaxon, Studies in Mycology) have made prior deposition of new names in
MycoBank a requirement for publication. This process is voluntary at
present but there are proposals to make it mandatory after the next
International Mycological and International Botanical Congresses in
2010-2011 (see "Coming Events" in this
Newsletter).
MycoBank was initiated by the Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures of
the Royal Academy of Science of The Netherlands in 2004. Well over one
thousand new scientific names for fungi are introduced each year,
dispersed through a multitude of scientific journals and books. A method
of co-ordinating this information has become essential. The International
Mycological Association (IMA) now has assumed responsibility for MycoBank.
Deposited names can remain confidential until after publication, and
will then be accessible through MycoBank, Index Fungorum, GBIF and other
international biodiversity initiatives, where they will further be linked
to other databases to realise a species bank that eventually will link all
databases of life. When applicable, MycoBank will provide onward links to
other databases containing, for example, living cultures, DNA data,
reference specimens and pleomorphic names linked to the same holomorph.
See: http://www.ima-mycology.org/mycobank.html.
ACIAR and its new Chief Executive Officer
Dr Nick Austin has been appointed as the CEO of ACIAR for a five-year
term succeeding Mr Peter Core after his seven years in the position.
ACIAR, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research,
commissions agricultural research between Australian and
developing-country researchers in areas where Australia has especial
research competence. At this time, agriculture in developing countries
faces the global challenges of climate change, food security and an
international economic downturn. ACIAR is well-placed to play a key role
in helping partner countries achieve sustainable, resilient and productive
farming systems to respond to the challenges.
See http://www.aciar.gov.au/
for information on Dr Austin, ACIAR and its personnel, priorities,
research programs, partner countries and publications.
Conference on Plasmodesmata
The first conference on plant plasmodesmata was held in Canberra,
Australia, in 1975, at the beginning of a new era of research
investigating plasmodesmata structure and function. After 35 years, the
7th conference in the series returns to Australia, on 21-26 March 2010 in
Sydney. See "Coming Events". The range of
topics has expanded to include ultrastructure, molecular and cell biology,
proteomics and signalling, plant disease resistance, regulation of
development and crop productivity. The Sydney conference will bring
together international experts on plasmodesmata, the gatekeepers of
cell-to-cell communication in plants, to share latest findings and forge
new collaborations. The conference will be held at the Q-Station Retreat
and Conference Centre, 30 minutes from the Central Business District in
Sydney, Australia.
Proposed topics for symposia include: Proteins in plasmodesmata;
Mechanisms of transport through plasmodesmata; Intercellular signalling
and regulation; Virus movement; Phloem transport; Intracellular and
intercellular gene silencing; Plasmodesmata and coordination of
development.
Proposed special sessions Include: Tunneling nanotubes; Lessons from
nuclear pores; Plasmodesmata - models for nanofiltration engineers?
AuthorMapper
There is an interesting web-based feature from Springer. It is
AuthorMapper at http://www.authormapper.com/.
AuthorMapper searches the Springer Journals collection and offers access
to nearly one hundred fifty years' of articles from more than 1,900
journals available on SpringerLink. It is claimed as a powerful knowledge
discovery tool into scientific literature.
AuthorMapper is said to visualize scientific research, enabling
document discovery based on author locations and geographic maps,
integrating content and Google-powered mapping technology, and yielding an
easy-to-use and dynamic interface that allows exploration of patterns in
scientific research; identification of new and historic literature trends;
discovery of wider relationships; and, location of other experts in a
field. Advanced search features include a filter for displaying open
access articles.
Acknowledgement
The Editor acknowledges input by the ISPP Secretary-General Greg
Johnson towards several items in this issue.
Coming Events
APS Annual Meeting 2009 at the Portland Convention Center, Portland,
Oregon, USA. 1-5 August 2009. See: http://www.apsnet.org.
14th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference and 11th SABRAO Conference
in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia. 10-14 August 2009. See: http://www.plantbreeding09.com.au/.
I All Africa Horticultural Congress: "Grown Under the Sun" at
the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya. 31 August-3 September. See: http://www.globalhort.org/news-events/all-africa-horticulture-congress/.
IX International Symposium on Thysanoptera and Tospoviruses at Sea
World Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. 31 August-4 September
2009. See: http://www.istt09.org/content/view/13/27/.
10th International Cotton Conference "Natural Fibres-Their
Attractiveness in Multidirectional Applications" in Gdynia, Poland.
3-4 September 2009. See: http://www.gca.org.pl/x.php/2,326/10th-International-Cotton
Conference.html.
2nd World Seed Conference "Responding to the Challenges of the
Changing World: The Role of New Plant Varieties and High Quality Seed in
Agriculture" at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. 8-10 September 8-10,
2009. See: http://worldseedconference.org/en/worldseedconference/home.html.
"Genetics 100 Years On" a symposium at the John Innes Centre,
Norwich, UK. 9-11 September 2009. See: http://www.jic.ac.uk/centenary/events/Genetics100YearsOn/.
BSPP Presidential Meeting 2009 "Darwin to Disease; Crops and their
pathogens" - Celebrating Darwin's 200th Birthday - University Museum,
Oxford, UK. 22 September 2009. See: http://www.bspp.org.uk/.
Annual Meeting of SIPAV, the Italian Society for Plant Pathology, in
Locorotondo, Bari, Italy. 28 September-1 October 2009.
APPS 2009 "Plant Health Management-An Integrated Approach" at
the Civic Precinct, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. 30 September-2 October
2009. See: http://www.apps2009.org.au/.
Agriculture: Africa's "Engine for Growth - Plant Science &
Biotechnology hold the Key" at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts,
UK. 12-14 October 2009. See: www.aab.org.uk/contentok.php?id=83&basket=wwsshowconfdets.
The 13th World Forestry Congress (Forests in development - a vital
balance) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 18-25 October 2009. See http://www.wfc2009.org/index_1024.html.
E-mail: info@wfc2009.org.
CABI Global Summit-food security in a climate of change-in London, UK.
19-21 October, 2009. See: http://www.cabi.org/foodsecurity.
5th International Plant Protection Symposium (IPPS) at Debrecen
University, Hungary. 20-22 October 2009. Contact: G J Kovics, Secretary of
Symposium, kovics@agr.unideb.hu.
9th International Congress on Plant Molecular Biology in St Louis,
Missouri, USA. 25-30 October 2009. Contact: ipmb2009@missouri.edu.
See: www.ipmb2009.org.
The 10th Arab Congress of Plant Protection in Beirut, Lebanon. 26-30
October 2009. See also flyer linked from an item in the May 2009
Newsletter. Contact: aspp@terra.net.lb
or acpp2009@cnrs.edu.lb.
"First International Conference of Mycops" in the Institute
of Mycology and Plant Pathology, University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
9-11 November 2009. Contact: Professor Dr Rukshana Bajwa director@mpp.pu.edu.pk
or the Conference Secretary Dr Sarwar Alam drssalam@yahoo.com.
British Crop Production Council, BCPC Congress 2009, at the Scottish
Exhibition & Conference Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom. 9-11 November
2009. See: www.bcpccongress.com.
The 2009 International Conference on Horticulture in Bangalore,
Karnataka, India. 9-12 November 2009. See: http://www.pnasf.org/ich2009.htm.
5th International Conference on Plant Pathology, with the theme
"Plant pathology in the globalized era", at the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India. 10-13 November 2009.
Contact: ipsdis@indiatimes.com
or ipsdis@yahoo.com.
2009 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum in Orlando, Florida, USA. 7-9
December 2009. See: http://www.scabusa.org/forum09.html.
For more information, contact: scabusa@scabusa.org.
National Soybean Rust Symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. 9-11
December 2009. Contact: dorrance.1@osu.edu.
7th International Workshop on Grapevine Trunk Diseases in Santa Cruz,
Chile. 17-21 January 2010. See: May 2009 ISPP
Newsletter.
Global Biosecurity 2010, Safeguarding Agriculture and the Environment,
at the Brisbane Convention Center, Queensland, Australia. 23 February-3
March 2010. See: www.globalbiosecurity2010.com.
Phytophthora Diseases in Forest Trees and Natural Ecosystems - 5th
Meeting of the IUFRO Working Group in Rotorua, New Zealand. 7-12 March
2010. Queries to Pam Taylor, phone: +64-7-3435727, Fax: +64-7-3480952.
Email: pam.taylor@scionresearch.com.
Plasmodesmata 2010, 7th International Conference,
Sydney, Australia. 21-26 March 2010. See: http://www.bio.usyd.edu.au/pd2010/.
Contact: pd2010@bio.usyd.edu.au.
13th Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union in Rome,
Italy. 13-18 June 2010. See: www.mpunion.com.
Contact: laura.mugnai@unifi.it.
International Plant Virus Epidemiology Symposium in Cornell, New York,
USA. 20-24 June 2010. See: http://www.isppweb.org/ICPVE/.
Contact: Professor Alberto Fereres at afereres@ccma.csic.es.
12th IUPAC International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry in Melbourne,
Australia. 4-8 July 2010. See: http://www.iupacicpc2010.org/.
XVII Congress of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology
(FESPB) in Valencia, Spain. 4-9 July 2010. See: http://www.geyseco.es/fespb/principal.php?seccion=general.
Contact: fespb2010@geyseco.es.
9th International Mycological Congress (IMC9)
"The Biology of Fungi" in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. 1-6 August
2010. See: http://www.imc9.info/.
34th International Carrot Conference in Tri-Cities area, south-central
Washington State, USA. Tentative dates 2-4 August 2010. Contact: Lindsey
DuToit dutoit@wsu.edu.
APS Annual Meeting 2010 at Opryland, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 7-11
August 2010. See: http://www.apsnet.org.
XXVIII International Horticultural Congress (IHC2010) in Lisbon,
Portugal. 22-27 August 2010. Contact: info@ihc2010.org.
See: http://www.ihc2010.org.
The 8th International Conference on Pseudomonas syringae and Related
Pathogens in Oxford, UK. 31 August-3 September 2010. See: www.reading.ac.uk/
Psyringae2010. Contact: syringae2010@plants.ox.ac.uk.
The 18th Biennial Australasian Plant Pathology Meeting and 4th Asian
Conference for Plant Pathology, a Joint Conference, at the Darwin
Convention Centre, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. 27-29 April
2011. Watch: http://www.australasianplantpathologysociety.org.au/.
XVIII International Botanical Congress - 2011 in Melbourne, Australia.
24-30 July 2011. See: http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/ibc-2011/.
Joint Meeting of APS and IAPPS in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. 6-10 August
2011. See: http://www.apsnet.org.
10th International Congress of Plant Pathology 2013 (ICPP2013)
"Bio-security, Food Safety and Plant Pathology: The Role of Plant
Pathology in a Globalized Economy" in Beijing, China. 25-31 August
2013. Watch: http://www.isppweb.org/congress.asp.
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