Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

NCERA-213 2011 Annual Meeting Minutes Officers: Andy, Roger, Jeff October 5 Attendance: Andy Michel, John Westbrook, Rick Meyer, Rod Nagoshi, Elson Shields, Jeff Bradshaw, Maria del Carmen Calderón Ezquerro, Marcos Algara-Siller, Maria del Mar Trigo Pérez, Forrest Nutter, Roger Magarey, Shelby Fleischer, Tom Sappington, Mike ONeil, Scott Isard, Elwynn Talyor Opening remarks and introductions from Andy Michel. Brief orientation of the Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Center at Dallas from Director Mike Gould. He discussed opportunities for global research in Texas to address the extreme climatic variability. There were several questions and comments regarding changes underway for the Center to refocus its efforts on more urban issues. The Texas AgriLife Research & Extension Centers have joined in some unique corporate partnerships to offset reduced state appropriations. Official business Ad hoc nomination committee formed for nomination of Secretary Treasure: Andy, Jeff, Roger, and John Administrators advisor report Rick Meyer (NPL, USDA-NIFA) reported on an update from USDA-NIFA. Roger Beachy resigned, and Chovonda Jacobs-Young is Acting Director. Continuing resolution through November 18, 2012. Pointed us to Land-grant.org for more on appropriations info. FY 2013 will be a difficult year. They are being told that budget requests should be 5% below FY 2011 level and that discretionary funding should be 10% below FY 2011 levels. NIFA could take a $100M cut. There will be no reductions to mandatory funding (e.g., SCRI and other FARM bill allocations). Rick spoke about some government-wide initiatives (e.g., Cost-savings initiative, long-term productivity increases, checks for duplications, identify priority investments for economic report). A brief mention of the 2012 Farm Bill; however, hearings were underway at the time of this meeting. At best the outlook was cloudy for the Farm Bill at this time. Rick mentioned that major initiatives maintain a high expectation for outcomes and indicators for the plan of work for proposals. There will be some new designs for the NIFA website soon (www.nifa.usda.gov). Rick had some parting suggestions for NCERA-213 members: 1) Build on successes of interdisciplinary systems-oriented work, 2) Participate in USDA stakeholder listening sessions, 3) Think broadly and connect contributions to achieving to priorities areas, 4) Communicate your successes and connect them to the NIFA challenge areas. For proposals, Rick reminded us to make a check list; Search out the most likely opportunities, call or email the program contact, read the RFAs carefully, start early, complex systems proposals require time and coordination, assemble the right team, define roles and responsibilities, dont take rejection personally, revise and resubmit, but address the reviewers comments. Our Key Note speaker was Marcos Algara-Siller who presented, Gone with the wind: Pest dispersal modeling in Mexico. Marcos spoke about the SCOPES Mexicos pest/pathogen risk modeling maps, presented information on HLB risk and locust risk as well as other risk maps produced by a handful of currently-used models. During a Q/A time, there was some discussion regarding how end users or producers might apply this. Marcos commented that at the moment, producers are not interested or willing to assist to fund the effort and there is some sensitivity to not crossing lines of responsibility with government officials. State reports What is it, where is it, and where is it going by Forest Nutter. He discussed remote sensing using <1 meter satellite resolution (~$2,000) for a plot image and uses various image characteristics to define pathogens or likely pathogens, using various definitions of disease gradient foci. 2011: La Niña did it. What is ahead? by Elwynn Taylor. He discussed an increased likelihood of a series of La Niña in the years to come. The climate this year is expected to be similar that of last year. Climate change effects on voltinism and vectoring: should we consider daily temperature range by Shelby Fleischer. He discussed the potential value/need of calculating variable temperature as opposed to constant daily temperature in considering the potential impacts of climate change on insects. Fall armyworm: pest and bioindicator of climate change by Rod Nagoshi. He discussed tracking the movement of fall armyworm using haplotype ratios. Some fall armyworms are resistant to Bt crops that express the Cry1f protein, but it may not be related to fall armyworm host strain. He discussed potential for tracking the movement of fall armyworm based on their susceptibility to specific Bt proteins. Modeling fall armyworm migration by John Westbrook. He discussed the modeling stages that he will be using for understanding and predicting migration patterns of fall armyworms. John expressed thanks to his many cooperators for being willing to collect and send in moth samples. Constructing a Tower Trap Sampler  an update by Jeff Bradshaw. Presented an update on the current data set and potential use of the tower trap. Also presented information on the iWheat.org project and presented an overview and update on the wheat stem sawfly project that is being worked into the iWheat project. E-race European corn borer: invasion history, host use, and gene flow by Tom Sappington. He discussed some historic information regarding the movement and distribution of O. nubilalis strains in North America. A special focus center on the E-strain ECB. Common buckthorn as a keystone invader in agricultural landscapes by Andy Michel. Andy discussed a multistate project that is taking a whole-ecosystem approach to understanding invasive species cascades. Discussed a citizen science effort to assist in mapping the distribution of buckthorn. There was some discussion regarding where soybean aphids do or do not migrate from buckthorn in the Spring. October 6 State reports (cont.) Aerobiology Mexican network for epidemiologic phytosanitary surveillance by Maria del Carmen Calderón E. Carmen discussed the establishment of a trapping network for spores and pollen throughout Mexico. There was some discussion of the effective sample area for transgenic corn pollen and the number of suction traps needed. Elusive onion thrips and lightweight airborne telemetry by Elson Shields. Elson provoked one of his co-workers to better understand onion thrip movement (an important vector of Iris yellow spot virus). He was able to capture onion thrips at 100 and 200 feet with some trial and error using different trap designs on his RC planes. He noted the use of vegetable oil sprays as an adhesive to trap the thrips. There was some discussion of night versus day movement in thrips. Elson had another brief discussion concerning some light airborne telemetry tools. APRS  Automatic Packet Reporting System is a well-developed communications technology. It requires $300 for telemetry unit and $550 for base station and software as well as a HAM radio operators license. Diurnal variation in the settling velocity of maize pollen and consequences for atmospheric dispersion by Scott Isard. He is interested in how individual and clumped rust spores fall and he developed an imaging device to measure fall rates. He also looked at pollen and found that pollen viability reduces over time of day. Because of moisture loss, the viability of pollen is reduced over greater distances. This is a departure from current model assumptions of isolation distances in corn. NCERA-213 training modules were discussed by Roger Magarey. He provided examples of various module ideas that could be developed. He provided an overview of Camtasia multimedia editing software (http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/?gclid=CKbB7LqS16sCFcsBQAodSieIOw). There was a suggestion to develop an educational module that reviews the outputs of NCERA-213 and what the group is about. Opportunities for group funding/conference grants Andy Michel discussed the AFRI Conference grants and went over the qualifications and approaches for pursuing conference grants. There was also a discussion of OECD conference sponsorship (co-operative research programme) and specific challenge areas defined by this program: Natural resources challenge, Sustainability in practice, The food chain. Andy also brought up a discussion of producing a review paper on new technologies that could be used for aerobiology as an output/deliverable for NCERA-213. Our themes were highlighted (Arthropods, Population genetics, Pathogens, Aerobiology/software risk mapping). Roger Magarey presented a concept for the development of the white paper, which could be developed around the challenge areas for food security. There was some general discussion among the members that we separate tools for challenges. It was mentioned that we currently do not have any involvement from weed science. It was suggested that a workshop grant for weed seed dispersal and pollen dispersal might be appropriate. Suggestions were made to organize cross-cutting topics and then identify specific case studies to highlight in the workshop. There was some discussion that the white paper could be produced as a deliverable from the conference/workshop and that it could emphasize processes and case studies. It was stated that one major challenge is to get folks to consider that long-distance movement is important and that this is not an exceptional phenomenon but a very important area of study. Official business Nominations for officers: Marcos Alagara-Siller was nominated for Secretary-Treasurer. The membership voted unanimously for Marcos to serve and the recommendation will be forwarded to USDA for final approval. There was some discussion of the 2012 meeting arrangements, which may be in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Andy Michel read an email from Dave Schmale about an idea for a symposium in 2012 to attract aerobiologists and scientists from related disciplines to the meeting. Dave has an NSF grant that could help fund a symposium in conjunction with the NCERA-213 meeting. Perhaps have this symposium in conjunction with the 2013 meeting of NCERA-213 to combine with the conference grant. Because the scope of this potential meeting is not known, we will hold off on a location decision for 2013. The members of NCERA-213 presented a card to Rick Meyer in thanks for his years of serving as the official USDA-NIFA representative to NCERA-213