In these most trying of times, there are still opportunities to be had.

First, the USDA-ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit in Fargo, ND, is looking for a Research Geneticist to conduct research on oats. There is also a position available for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Oat Genomics in Melanie Caffe’s lab at South Dakota State University. You can learn more about Melanie’s program in this video from SDSU’s virtual field day.

Because of social distancing, many people are posting videos of their field days on-line (see the last newsletter update for more). While it’s not the same as being out in the field, it does give people the opportunity to see what’s happening in places they normally wouldn’t visit. Therefore, I’m encouraging everyone to share videos (or photos) detailing their work in the field. Please send me a link, or arrange with me to have your video uploaded to the newsletter site (oatnewsletter@gmail.com). I will compile a list of all of the videos towards the end of the year.

This can also be done with webinars and other on-line meetings. One upcoming meeting of particular interest to genebank curators, breeders, and geneticists will be hosted by DivSeek International on August 12th, 2020, at 11:00 EDT. The topic is “A deeper dive into pre-breeding obstacles”. This meeting follows up on a series of short talks that were presented back in June. Those talks were recorded, and are available for viewing here. Please note that you will have to contact me or someone at DivSeek to receive the Zoom invitation for the meeting.

Finally, I have an opportunity for you to laugh. Or maybe groan. Either way, please enjoy some light entertainment, courtesy of the science community on Twitter!