Genetic resources for the dissection of bioenergy traits
Lead Research Organisation:
Aberystwyth University
Department Name: IBERS
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
The aim of the project is to provide genetic resources for the dissection of bioenergy traits. IBERS has assembled one of the world's largest collections of Miscanthus based on genetic resources already in Europe and its own extensive collections from Asia. This unique resource has already been used to make biparental mapping populations to identify QTL for flowering time, senescence and stem traits. Ongoing characterisations of germplasm are identifying a series of suitable new crosses including interspecific hybrids. These populations are being established for exploitation in other sub-programmes. To provide the plant materials to address biological and breeding questions in a perennial species such as Miscanthus, that takes several years before reaching maturity, requires significant planning. A number of new trials and populations are therefore being constructed to relate genotype to phenotype, genotype to environment, and phenotype to end use. These populations complement those established over the last eight years including an earlier diversity trial of Miscanthus genotypes that were in Europe prior to 2004, and mapping populations to study flowering time, leaf and stem traits.
Planned Impact
unavailable
Organisations
- Aberystwyth University (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Collaboration)
- Oregon State University (Collaboration)
- Teagasc (Collaboration)
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology (Collaboration)
- U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (Collaboration)
- WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- University of California, Berkeley (Collaboration)
- EARLHAM INSTITUTE (Collaboration)
Publications
Awty-Carroll D
(2018)
Using k-NN to analyse images of diverse germination phenotypes and detect single seed germination in Miscanthus sinensis.
in Plant methods
Bhatia R
(2017)
Genetic engineering of grass cell wall polysaccharides for biorefining.
in Plant biotechnology journal
Brown J
(2013)
Bioenergy Feedstocks - Breeding and Genetics
Clifton-Brown
(2015)
History of the development of <em>Miscanthus</em> as a bioenergy crop: from small beginnings to potential realisation
in Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy
Clifton-Brown J
(2019)
Breeding progress and preparedness for mass-scale deployment of perennial lignocellulosic biomass crops switchgrass, miscanthus, willow and poplar.
in Global change biology. Bioenergy
Clifton-Brown J
(2019)
Breeding Strategies to Improve Miscanthus as a Sustainable Source of Biomass for Bioenergy and Biorenewable Products
in Agronomy
Clifton-Brown, J
(2019)
Breeding progress and preparedness for mass-scale deployment of perennial lignocellulosic biomass crops switchgrass, miscanthus, willow and poplar
in GCB Bioenergy
Davey CL
(2017)
Genetic relationships between spring emergence, canopy phenology, and biomass yield increase the accuracy of genomic prediction in Miscanthus.
in Journal of experimental botany
Davey CL
(2017)
Radiation capture and conversion efficiencies of Miscanthus sacchariflorus, M. sinensis and their naturally occurring hybrid M. × giganteus.
in Global change biology. Bioenergy
De Vega J
(2021)
Draft genome assembly of the biofuel grass crop Miscanthus sacchariflorus.
in F1000Research
| Description | 1) New genetic resources have been developed for Miscanthus research including the assembly of i) a diversity population of 1000 plants in triplicate, ii) ten mini-mapping populations in triplicate, and two larger mapping populations of up to 1000 individuals. This combined with next generation sequencing (RAD-Seq) has allowed the development of pipelines for genetic mapping and comparative genomics. 2) With partners using DNA based molecular markers we have created a dense DNA based molecular marker map in Miscanthus, and identified 90 quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 26 of 32 scored bioenergy traits spanning field performance, chemical composition and release of sugars. |
| Exploitation Route | Research is being used to help UK industry move to seed based hybrid production of Miscanthus. Progress has also been made on implementing UN protocols for the Convention on Biological Diversity and Access and Benefits Sharing. These are some of the first examples for new (non-staple) crops. In November 2018, we (IBERS, Aberystwyth University) have submitted for Plant Variety Protection of our first four Miscanthus varieties (Artemis, Atropos, Astraea and Aphrodite) based on the results of recent trialling; and in November 2019 a further four Miscanthus varieties were submitted. This now means that our Miscanthus science has a route to market through a crop improvement pipeline to benefit UK farmers and be exported internationally. The UK Government commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, eg through secondary legislation to the 2008 Climate Change Act, means that such Miscanthus varieties can contribute to decarbonisation of the UK economy especially when combined with carbon capture and utilisation strategies. |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Energy Environment Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Transport |
| Description | Knowledge gained in the ISPG has been applied for Miscanthus hybrid seed production in southerly latitude in Italy and planted on demonstration farms in the UK by Terravesta Ltd. This has led to an Agri-Tech grant (MUST) and the technology demonstrated by Terravesta on their stand at the Cereals Event. We have also implemented the United Nations Protocols for the (Rio) Convention on Biodiversity and (Nagowa) Access and Benefit Sharing enabling commercial use of genetic resources and creation of impact from BBSRC science. In May 2012, Taiwan was the first Asian country to sign a full Access and Benefit Sharing agreement under the Convention on Biodiversity framework with the UK, followed in March 2013 by South Korea. These are some of the first examples for new (non-staple) crops. Novel IBERS seed-based Miscanthus varieties are now being trialed on farms in the UK and across Europe. In November 2018, we (IBERS, Aberystwyth University) have submitted for Plant Variety Protection of our first four Miscanthus varieties (Artemis, Atropos, Astraea and Aphrodite) based on the results of recent trialling; and in November 2019a further four varieties were submitted for protection. This now means that our Miscanthus science has a route to market through a crop improvement pipeline to benefit UK farmers and be exported internationally. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2012 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Transport |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic |
| Description | Fair and equitable use of natural resources through development of Miscanthus as an industrial crop |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | Through our research and implementation of an international conservation policy, the United Nation's Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), we have achieved an impact toward the implementation of public policy at the global-scale for the conservation of genetic resources. The CBD entered into force on 29 December 1993 following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio "Earth Summit"). The Convention was inspired by the world community's growing commitment to sustainable development and represented a dramatic step toward the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. New crop breeding programmes are dependent on the collection and characterisation of diverse genetic resources. Importantly since the domestication of the staple crops, legally binding contracts including the CBD have been put in place to ensure that where genetic resources are collected from one country and commercially exploited elsewhere, the benefits of the exploitation are shared with the donor country. IBERS researchers pioneered the making of new Miscanthus collections and the negotiation of the necessary agreements in the absence of clear national legislation for the implementation of the access and benefit sharing arrangements under the CBD and ahead of the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing in 2011. IBERS scientists worked closely with Defra and partners in Asia to implement the CBD and access and benefit sharing Protocols through organising joint workshops, collaborative research and legal negotiations. For example an international Workshop on Green Chemistry and Biomass Energy which was jointly funded by the National Science Council of Taiwan and the BBSRC, was held at the National Cheng Kung University on 3 November. Aberystwyth University and National Cheng Kung University formally signed a memorandum of understanding at the workshop, the signing of which was presided over by the vice chancellor of the Cheng Kung University and the CEO of BBSRC. In May 2012, Taiwan was the first Asian country to sign a full access and benefit sharing agreement under the CBD framework with the UK, and this was followed by successful negotiations with South Korea with an agreement to comply with CBD in November 2011, negotiations for access and benefits sharing up to July 2013 and an official signing of access and benefits sharing in October 2013. On both occasions the UK was represented by BEAA in the negotiation. This has created one of the first examples for implementing Nagoya protocols in the UK and our partnering countries. Not only have IBERS scientists implemented two international agreements but their experience and knowledge of setting up bi- lateral access and benefit sharing agreements under the CBD framework is now also being used as a proven example for others to follow, helping to support government's approach to legislation in this area. This includes the UK government's approach to the proposed "Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (Nagoya Protocol): Union implementation and ratification", an EU-wide legislation to be submitted to the European Parliament which was voted on in committee on 4 July 2013. The main beneficiaries of this policy impact are therefore the UK government's agriculture policy legislation body (Defra), donor countries in Asia, commerce (only compliant germplasm can be commercially exploited in signatory countries) and the global society on the conservation of natural resources. |
| Description | AgriTech; Miscanthus Upscaling Technology (MUST) |
| Amount | £901,884 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/N016149/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2016 |
| End | 01/2019 |
| Description | BEACON+ Biorefining Centre |
| Amount | £8,000,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Department | European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | Belgium |
| Start | 06/2015 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Description | Miscanthus UpScaling Technology (MUST) |
| Amount | £898,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2016 |
| End | 12/2018 |
| Description | Real time control of gasifiers to increase tolerance to biomass variety and reduce emissions |
| Amount | £999,756 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | EP/M01343X/1 |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2015 |
| End | 03/2018 |
| Description | UK BBSRC ERA-NET Bioenergy |
| Amount | £544,779 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/K021591/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2013 |
| End | 08/2016 |
| Title | Miscanthus endophytic bacteria collection |
| Description | Collection of bacterial strains isolated from Miscanthus tissues |
| Type Of Material | Biological samples |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Published 2017. In use in on-going research. |
| URL | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcbb.12364/pdf |
| Title | Supplementary dataset to "Draft genome assembly of the biofuel grass crop Miscanthus sacchariflorus" |
| Description | Miscanthus sacchariflorus (Maxim.) Hack. is a C4 perennial rhizomatous biofuel grass crop. M. sacchariflorus is among the most widely distributed species within the genus, particularly at cold northern latitudes, and one of the progenitor species of the main biomass commercial crop M. × giganteus. We generated a 2.54 Gbps whole-genome assembly of the diploid M. sacchariflorus "Robustus 297" genotype, which represented ~59% of the expected genome size. We later anchored this assembly in the chromosomal-scale M. sinensis genome to improve its contiguity. We annotated 86,767 and 69,049 protein-coding genes in the unanchored and anchored, respectively. We estimated our assemblies include ~85% of the M. sacchariflorus genes based on homology, core markers and RNA-seq alignments stats. Raw data and further metadata are available under Bioproject PRJNA435476. Msac_v2.fasta: Unanchored whole-genome assembly (WGA) of M. sacchariflorus in FASTA format. Msac_v3.fasta: The previous WGA re-scaffolded with the M. sinensis public reference. Msac_v3.agp: Chromosomal position in the M. sinensis reference of the previous scaffolds in Msac_v3.fasta Msac_v2.gff3: Gene annotation of the unanchored WGA in GFF3 format, which contains 86,767 coding genes Msac_v3.gff3: Gene annotation of the anchored WGA in GFF3 format, which contains 69,049 coding genes Msac_v2.func_annot.tsv: Text table containing the functional annotation of the 86,767 coding genes in Msac_v2.gff3 Msac_v2.repeats_annotation.gff3: Repeats annotation (Repeatmasker) of the unanchored reference. Msac_v2.masked.fasta.gz: Repeats-masked version (Repeatmasker) of Msac_v2.fasta all.satsuma.blocks_Msac_v2-vs-Msin.gz: Every alignment from scaffolds in Msac_v3.fasta into M. sinensis reference Msac_v2.orthology_Msin.tsv: Ortologous between Msac_v2 and M. sinensis Msac_v3-vs-Msin.tsv: Ortologous between Msac_v3 and M. sinensis |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/4270234 |
| Title | Supplementary dataset to "Draft genome assembly of the biofuel grass crop Miscanthus sacchariflorus" |
| Description | Miscanthus sacchariflorus (Maxim.) Hack. is a C4 perennial rhizomatous biofuel grass crop. M. sacchariflorus is among the most widely distributed species within the genus, particularly at cold northern latitudes, and one of the progenitor species of the main biomass commercial crop M. × giganteus. We generated a 2.54 Gbps whole-genome assembly of the diploid M. sacchariflorus "Robustus 297" genotype, which represented ~59% of the expected genome size. We later anchored this assembly in the chromosomal-scale M. sinensis genome to improve its contiguity. We annotated 86,767 and 69,049 protein-coding genes in the unanchored and anchored, respectively. We estimated our assemblies include ~85% of the M. sacchariflorus genes based on homology, core markers and RNA-seq alignments stats. Raw data and further metadata are available under Bioproject PRJNA435476. Msac_v2.fasta: Unanchored whole-genome assembly (WGA) of M. sacchariflorus in FASTA format. Msac_v3.fasta: The previous WGA re-scaffolded with the M. sinensis public reference. Msac_v3.agp: Chromosomal position in the M. sinensis reference of the previous scaffolds in Msac_v3.fasta Msac_v2.gff3: Gene annotation of the unanchored WGA in GFF3 format, which contains 86,767 coding genes Msac_v3.gff3: Gene annotation of the anchored WGA in GFF3 format, which contains 69,049 coding genes Msac_v2.func_annot.tsv: Text table containing the functional annotation of the 86,767 coding genes in Msac_v2.gff3 Msac_v2.repeats_annotation.gff3: Repeats annotation (Repeatmasker) of the unanchored reference. Msac_v2.masked.fasta.gz: Repeats-masked version (Repeatmasker) of Msac_v2.fasta all.satsuma.blocks_Msac_v2-vs-Msin.gz: Every alignment from scaffolds in Msac_v3.fasta into M. sinensis reference Msac_v2.orthology_Msin.tsv: Ortologous between Msac_v2 and M. sinensis Msac_v3-vs-Msin.tsv: Ortologous between Msac_v3 and M. sinensis |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://zenodo.org/record/4270235 |
| Description | Miscanthus genome |
| Organisation | Earlham Institute |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Miscanthus sacchariflorus genome sequence, Miscanthus RNAseq data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Miscanthus sinensis genome sequence (https://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html#!info?alias=Org_Msinensis_er), Miscanthus RNAseq data, Miscanthus molecular markers |
| Impact | Publication in preparation |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Miscanthus genome |
| Organisation | HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Miscanthus sacchariflorus genome sequence, Miscanthus RNAseq data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Miscanthus sinensis genome sequence (https://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html#!info?alias=Org_Msinensis_er), Miscanthus RNAseq data, Miscanthus molecular markers |
| Impact | Publication in preparation |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Miscanthus genome |
| Organisation | Teagasc |
| Country | Ireland |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Miscanthus sacchariflorus genome sequence, Miscanthus RNAseq data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Miscanthus sinensis genome sequence (https://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html#!info?alias=Org_Msinensis_er), Miscanthus RNAseq data, Miscanthus molecular markers |
| Impact | Publication in preparation |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Miscanthus genome |
| Organisation | U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Miscanthus sacchariflorus genome sequence, Miscanthus RNAseq data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Miscanthus sinensis genome sequence (https://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html#!info?alias=Org_Msinensis_er), Miscanthus RNAseq data, Miscanthus molecular markers |
| Impact | Publication in preparation |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Miscanthus genome |
| Organisation | University of California, Berkeley |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Miscanthus sacchariflorus genome sequence, Miscanthus RNAseq data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Miscanthus sinensis genome sequence (https://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html#!info?alias=Org_Msinensis_er), Miscanthus RNAseq data, Miscanthus molecular markers |
| Impact | Publication in preparation |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Miscanthus genome |
| Organisation | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Miscanthus sacchariflorus genome sequence, Miscanthus RNAseq data |
| Collaborator Contribution | Miscanthus sinensis genome sequence (https://phytozome.jgi.doe.gov/pz/portal.html#!info?alias=Org_Msinensis_er), Miscanthus RNAseq data, Miscanthus molecular markers |
| Impact | Publication in preparation |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Structural polymorphisms as causes of heterosis in Populus |
| Organisation | Oregon State University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis expertise on genome-wide trait prediction |
| Collaborator Contribution | A unique set of data on structural DNA polymorphisms in large populations |
| Impact | Promising early results on genome-wide prediction using structural polymorphisms. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Structural polymorphisms as causes of heterosis in Populus |
| Organisation | West Virginia University |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Data analysis expertise on genome-wide trait prediction |
| Collaborator Contribution | A unique set of data on structural DNA polymorphisms in large populations |
| Impact | Promising early results on genome-wide prediction using structural polymorphisms. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Articles for Biochemical Society's blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Experience communicating with a wider audience about the experience of being a PhD student and the research project. Raise awareness of the research group. https://thebiochemistblog.com/2017/05/18/phyte-club-inside-the-plant-microbiome/ https://thebiochemistblog.com/2017/03/27/the-very-best-things-about-phd-life/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://thebiochemistblog.com/2017/05/18/phyte-club-inside-the-plant-microbiome/ |
| Description | BBC Wales Science Cafe: The Welsh Science Wishlist |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | An interview for BBC Radio Wales Science Cafe. The programme was ahead of the Welsh Government Elections in May 2016 and was to articulate The Welsh Science Wishlist for the incoming government. Iain Donnison gave the interview on wishes for the future environmental policy. Science votes The Welsh Government believes that science in Wales is world class. And on this programme we frequently trumpet the pioneering research at our universities. But is enough being done to build a strong and successful scientific community? Many in Wales are concerned that we are failing on science education and in preparing for the digital future. In this special edition of Science Café scientists reveal, for the policy makers, their wish lists. And ahead of next month's elections, the political parties outline their scientific priorities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0776lxj |
| Description | BBSRC's Bioenergy Public Dialogue |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Activity generated a lively discussion Participants asked many questions and greatly increased their knowledge about bioenergy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | British Science Week |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | 2016 - PhD students presented a poster of their research project with an audience of school children and teachers. Posters were later copied and sent to teachers for display in schools. Students from 9 Secondary schools were in attendance over the course of the week. 2017 - PhD students organised and ran a stand for the three day event, supervising a team of undergraduate students. • A three day event demonstrating chemical changes and properties to early secondary school aged children from several local schools using hands-on experiments they could try. • Voted third place out of around 40 different stands at the event. • Over 3000 schoolchildren attended over the event. • Video online including PhD student talking about endophytes https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2017/03/title-198574-en.html |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| URL | https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2017/03/title-198574-en.html |
| Description | Cereals event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Engagement with farmers and growers on the potential use of Miscanthus on farms in the UK and the delivery pipeline for seed based varieties, including on the potential environmental benefits on marginal low carbon soils. This including raising awareness of the availability of seed based Miscanthus hybrids and their significant advantage over rhizome based M. x gianteus in terms of cost of establishment, scaleability and disease susceptability. More farmers aware of Miscanthus as an option and the improvements that are in the pipeline |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013,2014,2015 |
| Description | Engagement with Young Farmers Groups |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Engagement through talks, tours and discussions with Young Farmers groups on what agricultural research is taking place at IBERS, Aberystwyth and how this can impact farming now and in the future. Requests for visits/ tours and for repeat visits from larger groups. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2014 |
| Description | Genomics-assisted breeding |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Generated keen interest and discussion with Wales Young Farmers Clubs visitors Several visitors expressed interest in learning more about my research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Invited presentation (Slavov): Bioenergy Genomics 17 Oxford Conference. Integrated genomic prediction in bioenergy crops. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Generated discussions and outlined future research with peers working in bioenergy crops. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.watbio.eu/bioenergy-genomics-17-oxford-conference/ |
| Description | Miscanthus Safari |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | In November 2014 scientists, a Miscanthus Safari event was held to bring together policy makers and industry and funding bodies to hear the state of the art in Miscanthus research and to visit the extensive field trials established at Aberystwyth that contain the largest diverse collections of Miscanthus germplasm outside of Asia. The aim of the event was to highlight the progress that had been made over the last decade in the improvements in Miscanthus variety development and agronomy. In the previous 10 years a plant from the wild in Asia had been subject to modern biology and breeding approaches, to result in the trialling of experimental seed based hybrids being trialled by commercial partners on farms in the UK. This progress had only been made possible by the investment of public (principally BBSRC and Defra) and private funds. On the first day attendees visited the field sites to observe a range of activities from agronomic developments, new hybrid nurseries and large field scale analysis of carbon flux. The day was rounded off by a talk from a leading UK bioenergy crop company Terravesta on their work addressing technical and commercial barriers to large scale deployment of Miscanthus. The second day saw talks on diverse germplasm collections, developing new molecular technologies including genetic maps, germplasm and agronomic improvements for a maturing market, the environmental credentials of Miscanthus cultivation and matching land area and policy goals. The meeting emphasised the importance of biomass crops in helping moderate the effects of climate change and the short timescales over which such crops are required to deliver significant impacts. This challenge requires investment and progress to be made across a broad range of diverse research and commercial fields and was reflected in the diverse presentations across the two days. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2014/11/title-159025-en.html |
| Description | Panel discussion at Energy Now Expo, Telford |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and led to subsequent new industry collaboration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://content.yudu.com/Library/A26a45/EnergyNowEXPO2013/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%... |
| Description | Royal Welsh Show |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Annual displays and activities based on agriculature and environmental green issues, including on the planting of energy crops, non-food use of plants, use of grass to make ethanol and plastics. Activities sparked discussion with farmers, and public of all ages Visit to activities at Royal Welsh Show leads to subsequent requests for information and visits to IBERS in Aberystwyth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014 |
| Description | Segment on BBC news |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interviewed for Welsh language news segment. Recently for a section on women in science, previously for a segment about renewable energy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2016 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03fd8qc/newyddion-9-s4c-pennod-19 |
| Description | Slavov (cross-institute BBSRC workshop on predictive breeding) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Explored potential for developing a cross-institute (Roslin, Earlham, JIC, NIAB, RRes, IBERS ...) ISP on predictive breeding. A report was submitted to BBSRC outlining next steps / key questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Slavov (invited presentation) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Multi-omic dissection and prediction of complex traits in plants. XIV International Symposium on Integrative Bioinformatics, Harpenden, UK, June 14, 2018 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/events/14th-international-symposium-integrative-bioinformatics |
| Description | Talk at 4th International Symposium of Forage Breeding, Melbourne, Australia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked discussions among academics and industry participants. Talk sparked discussions among academics and industry participants and led to new collaborations in Australia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Talk at PlantSci 2012; the UK Plant Sciences Federation Inaugural Research Conference, Norwich |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Talk sparked questions and social media discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Various student engagement activities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | IBERS Excellence with Impact Poster session. 28th April 2016 • Presenting a poster of my research plans as part of the IBERS EWI event • 80-100 people attended the event. Presentation to School Teachers. 8th June 2016 • A ten minute oral presentation of research project to secondary school teachers. • 20-30 teachers were in attendance. Public Engagement Poster Session. 18th June 2016 • Presented a research poster to an audience of the general public. • Over 100 people attended World Food Day poster. 16th October 2016 • Public outreach event marking World Food Day, organised and hosted with fellow postgraduate students. • The event illustrated the journey of food from production, through processing, to consumption, and waste, and highlighting environmental impacts. • ~50 people attended. Science and Energy Lecture. 19th May 2017 • Delivering a 2 hour lecture to primary school children on energy changes, with hands on demonstrations of a range of experiments. • Groups from three primary schools were in attendance, totalling over 80 children. • There will hopefully be a repeat of this event 2018. Worcester Postgraduate Research Conference 29th June 2017 • 15 minute oral research presentation to a conference session of academic researchers and other postgraduate students from a range of disciplines and institutions. • 80-100 people were at the event. Online Outreach • Blog (friendlybacteria.wordpress.com) writing about Science (mainly microbiology) for a general audience. I'm not sure how many people this has reached. • Social Media: use of Instagram to post about Science and Nature (@friendly_bacteria) and Twitter to do the same (@frndlybacteria). Over 500 followers on Instagram and nearly 1300 on Twitter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |