News 2014
UCC Plant Scientist appointed as President of International Association of Plant Biotechology
Dr. Barbara Doyle Prestwich has been appointed as President of the International Association of Plant Biotechnology (2015 to 2018) at the 2014 meeting held recently in Melbourne, Australia.
The International Association of Plant Biotechnology (IAPB) the largest society of its kind,was founded in 1963 and boasts greater than 1800 members across 85 countries. The official publication of the IAPB is In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology - Plant. Barbara recently successfully bid to host the next IAPB meeting in Dublin’s Convention Centre in August 2018, supported by the Minister of Agriculture, Simon Coveney, alongside scientific colleagues in Ireland, Austria, Germany, USA and International Potato Research Centre (CIP) and with Conference Partners in Dublin. The society meets every four years and attracts up to 2000 delegates at its meetings.
‘This appointment is a great honour for me and I am delighted, with the support of my colleagues, to be bringing the next IAPB meeting to Ireland in 2018. This is a great opportunity, as recognised by the Minister of Agriculture , Simon Conveney, for Plant Science researchers in Ireland’ said Barbara Doyle Prestwich.
Writing in advance of the bid, Minister Simon Coveney said ‘The plant biotechnology field is clearly of importance to Europe's agri-food and wider bioeconomy sectors. Hosting the IAPB conference in 2018 would bring further international focus to the expertise of plant scientists in Ireland. As a result of State investments, exciting science is being undertaken in Ireland. Research organisations, the Government and industry are working closely together in the agri-food area. Over the past 20 months, my Department has committed in excess of €64m to agri-food, marine and forestry research across my Department's three competitive research funding programmes. I firmly believe that investing in agri-food research is crucial to the growth and development of our industry’.