Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 148144 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2016 A GREAT DEAL of focus has been given to plant breeding education at the graduate level, and rightly so, as this relates to basic preparation of the next generation of scientists in crop improvement to tackle challenges of world hunger and malnutrition. Once on the job, a newly-minted plant breeder might have been encouraged in years past to attend one to two conferences per year to stay abreast of new scientific advancements. However, now, with the pace of such advancements and their value to development of improved crop cultivars that are commercially compet- itive, the question arises as to whether this level of con- tinuing education is sufficient? Based on the programs for continuing education of plant breeders that have been initiated since 2005, the answer may be “no.” For the past 52 years, the Illinois Corn Breeders’ School, organized by the University of Illinois, has delivered a 1.5-day program on hot issues in corn hybrid development. Illinois Corn Breeders’ School is but one of the earlier options that may have been sufficient at informing breeders of new technologies and approaches; these days it is likely to be only one component of a continuing education regime. Sensitive to the need for expanded post-graduate education opportunities, some scientific conferences such as American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America and the Plant and Animal Genome Conference have instituted application- focused workshops to supplement presentations by keynote speakers. A number of short courses have been offered by U.S. land-grant universities such as Tucson Plant Breeding Institute at the University of Arizona, the Marker-Assisted Plant Breeding module at University of Minnesota, the Summer Institute in Statistical Genetics at North Carolina State University, and Plant Breeding for Drought Tolerance short course at Colorado State University. Beyond the United States, continuing education programs are offered through CGIAR centers, as well as key agricultural universities. For more comprehensive training, the University of California, Davis, offers a six-week course delivered over one to two years, the Plant Breeding Academy. Unlike some, this program targets all levels and types of plant breeders: bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral. In addition to keeping breeders current with new technologies and methodologies, continuing education upgrades one’s knowledge base and skills. The latter objective has taken on increasing importance as the private sector takes a more predominant role in seed product development. Private sector employees may be more likely to seek promotion, and be encouraged to do so. Of Plant Breeding Academy graduates, a vast majority have been promoted or received an increase in compensation within three years of completion. In this vein, online graduate courses have sprung up to meet this demand through land-grant universities such as University of Nebraska, Texas A&M University, and North Carolina State University. Iowa State University offers a full master’s curriculum through dis- tance learning, which can result in a terminal, ‘no-thesis’ degree. In addition to a non-thesis option, TAMU offers a thesis option master’s degree in plant breeding, whereby the student conducts his research at their work location co-located with a doctorate-level scien- tist who qualifies as an adjunct member faculty. In addition, companies are taking on the respon- sibility for continuing education internally. Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, Dow AgroSciences, Limagrain and Syngenta all have some organized form of continuing education for their scientists. For example, Ray Riley, then-head of germplasm technology, established the Syngenta Breeding Academy in 2011. Today, Heather Merk manages the global-scale program, which involves personnel in all crop pipelines. My advice? As a seasoned plant breeder, I see continuing education in some form as essential to maintaining high productivity and relevance in cul- tivar improvement. You could go it alone and spend significant time in the library, or you could take advan- tage of “packaged” information assembled by topical experts, targeted to your needs and desires. Whether you want to keep current with scientific advancements and the new efficient approaches these can enable, cultivate and nurture your innovative mindset, or grow your knowledge base and skill set to a whole new level, there are options for continuing education that can serve you well while you remain fully employed. Check them out! SW “You could go it alone and spend significant time in the library, or you could take advantage of ‘packaged’ information assembled by topical experts, targeted to your needs.” — Rita Mumm RITA H. MUMM PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and GeneMax Services Continuing Education Sparks Innovation