ISRC Holds Meeting of Research Affiliates
The ISRC held a meeting of its research affiliates on April 8. The main activity was to identify gaps in soybean research. Nearly 30 ISU scientists participated in the meeting. ISRC Co-director Greg Tylka started the meeting by introducing the staff of the ISRC and the newest member of the center, Co-director Danny Singh. Tylka also gave an overview of the center's funding and discussed the benefits of researchers collaborating on similar research ideas. The ISRC celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and has funded more than $2.5 million in soybean research so far.
The meeting then proceeded with attendees dividing into smaller groups and working to identify unaddressed areas of research and the associated challenges of conducting such work. Topics discussed included technology, biologicals, more efficient use of resources, educating the next generation of researchers, implementing engineering resources for better seed storage, phenotyping below ground as well as above, and a variety of other topics related to a changing climate. Also, good discussion occurred about the loss of certain herbicides, insecticides and fungicides due to regulations and how soybean researchers can work to find alternatives. Identified challenges included the need to garner funding for longer-term projects and obtaining funding support via industry and government sources. Researchers also voiced the need to gather more input from farmers and industry, especially as it pertains to improving and adopting sustainability practices, in addition to the above-mentioned list of topics.
The researchers then were asked for ideas on how the ISRC can assist them. Ideas included continued facilitation of collaborations to connect and strengthen the scientific community, finding connections to industry, assessing the needs of Iowa’s soybean farmers and finding ways to seek out more grant funding.
The ISRC enjoyed the brainstorming session, and we are grateful our affiliates also found value in meeting. The productive exchange of thoughts and information that occurred is invaluable to the center’s research efforts going forward, and we hope to host similar functions in the future.