The 2025 McFadden Symposium, "Anticipating Change: Utilizing New Tools and Traits to Secure the Future of Wheat," is set for 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. March 3 at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center in Lincoln, 2021 Transformation Drive.
The symposium is held biennially to memorialize Edgar S. McFadden and learn from leading wheat scientists who continue his legacy of service to the industry. This gathering provides an opportunity for the public and private sectors to discuss current issues in wheat improvement, facilitates collaborative research and teaching activities and promotes graduate student development through poster presentations and interactions with top scientists in the field. Guest speakers at the symposium and workshop will discuss wheat improvement, wheat germplasm exchange and critical issues facing wheat production.
The morning session will include speakers highlighting the current status of, and future tools for, wheat research in the Great Plains. Speakers include:
- Tom Clemente, Eugene W. Price Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology, Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Pin-Chu Lai, assistant professor, entomology, Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Romulo Lollato, associate professor, Extension wheat and forages specialist, Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University
- Maitiniyazi Maimaitijiang, associate professor, Extension wheat and forages specialist, Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University
- Ellen Melson, postdoctoral research associate, Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M AgriLife Research
- Devin Rose, associate professor, Food Science and Technology, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The day includes the following sessions:
- USWBSI Hard Winter Wheat CP Planning Session
- SAWFLIES CAP Planning Session – Developing Extension and Education Tools
- Breeding for End-Use Quality
- Stem Rust Resistance – Current status and future objectives
- WheatCAP Planning – Hard winter wheat regional objectives
- Wheat Virus Working Group
There will also be tours of the Greenhouse Innovation Center and Food Processing Center.
Registration, hotel information and poster abstract submission can all be found online.
Those with questions should contact Katherine Frels, symposium coordinator, at 402-472-8709 or kfrels2@unl.edu.
