A graduate seminar course entitled “Plant organization and crop simulation
modeling: Integrating interdisciplinary perspectives” will be available
over the Internet, using already available Blackboard software, starting in
mid October. It may be taken for graduate credit or for non-credit
professional development. Registration information for graduate credit is
available at
http://agronomy.unl.edu/distance_ed/2005fall/baenziger/course_nres896.htm
or for non-credit
at
<http://estore.adec.edu/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=85>http://estore.adec.edu/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=85.
Tuition and fees will be charged for those in the developed world following
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln guidelines. For everyone else, this
course will be free, with the caveat that those taking this course must
actively participate in the threaded discussions, and register by emailing
Dr. Deana Namuth at dnamuth@unl.edu.. Questions regarding this course
should be directed to Albert Weiss
(<mailto:[log in to unmask]>[log in to unmask]) or P. Stephen Baenziger
([log in to unmask]) , questions about registration should be directed to
Deana Namuth. The enrollment limit is 30 students. More details about this
course follow.
Seminar title: Plant organization and crop simulation modeling: Integrating
interdisciplinary perspectives.
Brief Background: The major problem facing the world today is providing
sufficient food, feed, and fiber to feed and clothe a growing population,
while maintaining or enhancing the productivity of sustainable agricultural
ecosystems. While many scientists study the same agricultural ecosystem
from different disciplinary perspectives (plant breeding, plant physiology,
soil science, or crop simulation modeling), they speak different scientific
dialects which can minimize interactions. A way to address these problems
is through communication and cooperation.
Goal: To expose graduate students to a diverse set of perspectives on the
influence of scale of plant organization (organelle to plant to ecosystem)
and how these perspectives can be integrated to address problems in the
simulation of plant processes culminating in agricultural productivity.
Structure: This graduate level course will be delivered by distance
education technology in thirteen lectures and two discussion sessions
carried out over eight weeks with two meetings per week beginning some time
in October. These meetings will take place asynchronously via a “threaded
discussion board” format. Each lecture from a leading world expert will
last about 40-50 minutes. Each week there will be a discussion question or
paper to read and the student must respond.
Requirements: Students will need access to the Internet (56 K connection or
greater), have PowerPoint, and speakers. Course prerequisites are nine
credit hours of course work in the plant sciences and some familiarity with
crop simulation modeling or permission of the instructors.
Credit: 1
Seminar
Number
Topic
Speaker(s)
1
Introduction: Setting the stage; goals, expectations
P. Stephen Baenziger
A. Weiss
Dept. of Agronomy and Horticulture
School of Natural Resources
Univ. of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE
2
Putting genes into genetic coefficients.
P. Stephen Baenziger
Dept. of Agronomy and Horticulture
Univ. of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE
3
Crop simulation modeling – Organ, plant, field Scale
A. Weiss
School of Natural Resources
Univ. of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE
4
Incorporating genomic information into crop
models to predict complex phenotypes.
X. Yin
Department of Plant Sciences
Wageningen University
Wageningen, Netherlands
5
Functional-Structural Plant Models
H. Sinoquet
UMR PIAF, INRA-Université Blaise Pascal
Clermont-Ferrand
France
6
In Silico Plant Models
E. Mjolsness
Dept. of Information and Computer Science
Univ. of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA
7
Student Exercise
8
Rice: A case study
J. E. Sheehy
IRRI
Manila, Philippines
9
Modeling the phenology of common bean: From genotype to phenotype.
J. W. White
USWCL, USDA-ARS
Phoenix, AZ
10
“Wheat Yield: The relevance of floret primorda survival”
G. A. Slafer
Dept. of Crop Production and Forestry
University of Lleida
Lleida, SPAIN
11
Understanding corn productivity and predicting hybrid performance using a
crop model.
J. Wei
Pioneer
Iowa
12
Student Exercise: Using the case studies as an example, develop a structure
for other crops.
13
Yield benefits from assimilate remobilisation
S. Asseng
CSIRO Plant Industry
Wembley, WA
Australia
14
Creating crops for specific environments, working towards
a sustainable agroecosystem – crop rotations
TBA
15
Crop yield potential, global food security and natural resource conservation.
K. G. Cassman
Dept. of Agronomy and Horticulture
Univ. of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE
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