78 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2017 The National Association of Plant Breeders and the Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee hosted a joint meeting where attendees learned from the work of their peers and recognized leaders who have devoted themselves to furthering the sector. Julie Deering jdeering@issuesink.com MORE THAN 350 plant breed- ers gathered for the 7th National Association of Plant Breeders and the 10th Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee meeting at the University of California, Davis, Aug. 7-10. During the meeting, participants heard from leaders about issues of importance, learned about unique research initiatives, toured local research facilities, recognized outstanding individuals and networked. The meeting also served as one of the largest gathering points for students preparing to enter the field, and as an opportunity to present their research. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Diverse Crops – Diverse Challenges,” which was reflected in the topics cov- ered. Topics ranged from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) vision for plant breeding and agriculture to the use of induced gene mutations in polyploidy wheat to reveal hidden genetic variability, and from the applica- tion of drones to increase genetic gain to high-throughput in-field phenotyping to accelerate vegetable crop breeding. One of the pillars of the association is to recognize individuals who exemplify the very best in plant breeding research, education, outreach and leadership. Jim McFerson, who chairs the NAPB Awards Committee, says the individuals recog- nized model persistent dedication and a passionate devotion to applying their plant breeding skills and technical excel- lence to promote food security, quality of life and a sustainable future. A Lifelong Pursuit The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Robert Allan, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) research geneticist and professor of crops and soil sciences at Washington State University. “The advances in plant improvement Dr. Allan has achieved in his lifetime are NAPB Accolades In 1960, Orville Vogel (left) and Robert Allan (right), both wheat breeders with USDA-ARS and Washington State University, had just released the cultivar Gaines. Allan is the recipient of this year’s NAPB Lifetime Achievement Award. remarkable, both for their basic scien- tific impact and for their enormous and enduring positive impact on the wheat production and processing industries throughout the world,” says Kim Garland- Campbell, also of USDA-ARS. Through his work, Allan showed the inheritance of semi dwarf height in the wheat cultivar Norin 10 was controlled by two genes that were insensitive to gibber- ellic acid. These genes became the foun- dation of the Green Revolution in wheat. Furthermore, with the help of cowork- ers, he made one of the earliest reports of a molecular marker that facilitated selection for disease resistance, showing an isozyme locus was closely linked to the important Pch1 gene for resistance to eyespot foot rot. Allan bred nine wheat varieties, including Madsen, with resist- ance to eyespot foot rot that were effec- tive for 30 years. The need for chemical control of these diseases was greatly reduced, saving mil-