Feedback by ATTENDEES OF THE IUFRO GENOMICS AND FOREST TREE GENETICS CONFERENCE

I had the possibility to present my work, entitled “Using RAD sequencing to identify cpDNA polymorphisms in Fagus sylvatica” in a poster session.

Overall, the conference was an excellent experience which broadened my knowledge of forest tree genomics. It was many interesting speakers and plenty of opportunities for sharing ideas and new scientific findings.

I’m extremely grateful to the EVOLTREE for awarding me this travel grant which allowed me to meet leading experts in the field.

During the inspiring lecturers such as Sally Aitken, Aaron Shafer, Paul Manos or Rishikesh Bhalera, I could learn about cutting-edge research, in the field of forest tree genetics. Many of them also showed how much despite our effort is still unknown and what we can discover in the near future.

But the biggest possibility to learn was in the poster sessions, during which I presented 'Using RAD sequencing to identify cpDNA polymorphisms in Fagus sylvatica' and had the occasion to directly contact with other scientist and to exchange information and to discuss about key issues in my and their research.

Wonderful people which I met as well as knowledge and gained experience thanks to this conference are priceless and will boost my own research. I would like to thank EVOLTREEE for the conference grant thanks to which I could  attend in such significant event.

I presented a poster (Apuli et al.: Local adaptation in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) – fitness in relation to timing of bud set) in the second session.

I also attended the Genomic Selection workshop that was offered on top of the programme. The talks and practicals in this workshop gave me good tools to learn more on this interesting field of research.

The conference venue was located right on Arcachon beachline with fresh sea breeze, and we were treated with excellent French cuisine to match the science.

The objective of the conference was “to present and discuss new scientific findings in the area of population, quantitative and evolutionary genetics and how they could be applied in genetic resource conservation and breeding”.

This scenario was excellent for the training of a PhD student in population genetics and genomics, like me.

During this meeting I had the occasion to present my findings, allowing me to discuss my methods with people with similar aims.

I could also exchange ideas and discuss different topics of my interest with experienced researchers and met some co-authors of my own work. I even met again people from courses I have done during my PhD.

Overall, I consider those talks really useful to advance in my own research. Therefore, from a scientific point of view, the attendance to the IUFRO conference was really comprehensive.

The possibility to attend this conference thanks to EVOLTREE was a great opportunity, not only to discover different and interesting fields of research but also to have a view of the state of the art in forest tree research.

I’m a PhD student in the framework of the Doctoral program SUSFOR - Sustainable Forest and Products of the School of Agriculture (Instituto Superior de Agronomia - ISA) of the University of Lisbon, and an EVOLTREE member. My PhD focuses on Forest Genetics, in particular the study of growth and adaptative traits and cork quality in cork oak genetic trials (provenance and progeny field trials).

The participation in this conference was a great opportunity to present my work in a poster “Population differences in cork oak for growth and survival under contrasting environmental conditions” and also to learn from and discuss genetic topics with other researchers and students. 

In this conference, excellent talks related to adaptation and species boundaries, tree genomics and climate change, phylogenetic and genomics evolution, and genomic selection were presented. A workshop about genomic selection, with theoretical sessions and exercises where we practiced with a real data, was an interesting component of this conference. The conference was very well organized.

Thanks to the conference organizers for their great job on the conference sections (talks and posters), on the workshop and on the delicious food and to EVOLTREE who provided me financial support to attend this conference.

During the conference there were two poster sessions where it was possible to have a look at the many presented posters and to meet and discuss with other scientist about the topics introduced by the presentations.

My poster,  named "Genetic variability of common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in a provenance trial 'Medvednica'"was part of Session 1 (Genetic architecture of local adaptation and species boundaries).

In addition, I attended  a  Genomic Selection Workshop which was very useful and covered a lot of ground in a very short time. It consisted of theoretical lessons and guided exercises with computing tools.

I am very grateful to EVOLTREE for providing me with a conference grant to attend the conference and Genomic Selection Workshop.  It was a very worthwhile experience and it was good to meet and speak with other researchers.