National Ecogenomics Day 2008
The incorporation of genomics into ecology and environmental sciences has become a prominent endeavor in the Netherlands. This is in line with international trends, its sheer extent also is leading the way.
Strong signs of the Dutch endeavor are, among others, the flourishing ecogenomic consortium “Assessing the living soil” of the Dutch Genomics Initiative (NGI) (www.ecogenomics.nl), the initiation of the Platform Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics and the “genomics for water” initiative of Dutch key players in water management (www.waterinnovatiebron.nl).
As a next step the platform has organized the national Ecogenomics Day 2008. Point of departure for this day is the formulation and propagation of a research agenda for ecogenomics oriented research in the different biological disciplines. In preparation of this day eight coordinators are writing an exploration of the future of ecogenomics. They will explain why their fields need ecogenomics, what the major ecogenomic questions are, and aht is needed for a successful ecogenomics program, in terms of infrastructure and cooperation. Their contributions will be brought together in the report: Ecogenomics in the Netherlands: exploration of multidisciplinary opportunities and necessities.
At the National Ecogenomics Day 2008 each coordinator will further clarify their exploration, and will illustrate their points based on research already in progress. As a key-note speaker Prof. Michael Purugganan (University New York) was invited, who will place ecogenomics in an international framework, based on his won extensive research on Arabidopsis. At the end of the day the report will be officially presented to representatives of ALW, NGI and industry.
The Platform Ecological and Evolutionary Genomics wholeheartedly invites you to participate in the
National Ecogenomics Day 2008
February 29, 2008De Reehorst, Ede