Elliott Price's Travel Report

The Santander Travel Award contributed to my attendance at the Plant and Animal Genome conference 2016 (PAG XXIV) to present work from my PhD studies on DIoscorea, commonly known as yams.

Yams are a major staple crop for over 100 million people and especially important in West Africa where over 90% of global production takes place. In addition, the crop is extensively used in traditional medicines and as a raw material for industrial steroid production; a market work approximately $1 billion.

My PhD research is part of a collaborative project between Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) & the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Kew) and also under the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) in partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The project seeks to exploit the natural diversity present in yams to improve the crop for food security and also provide economic and medicinal benefits.

PAG is the largest conference agricultural genomics conference in the world and over 3000 people attended the meeting of 2016. PAG XXIV was the first time yam has been represented in a workshop session and so provided an excellent opportunity to disseminate work and gain insight into other agricultural research around the world. Numerous partners of the RTB were in attendance and the meeting provided a great opportunity to meet collaborators and catch up.

Attending PAG was a fantastic opportunity and the scale was unlike any other conference. With over 900 talks delivered and more than 1200 posters on display during the 5 day event, navigation relied on a dedicated mobile app for both timings and directions. Many researchers choose PAG for initial dissemination of findings and so the conference operates a no photos or filming policy to maintain confidentiality; this policy also encourages a large industry and government presence. Going to such a prestigious event provided an early glimpse in the leading edge of many research fields and one which I would not have access to elsewhere.

Fortunately, I was not alone at PAG as my supervisor Prof. Fraser and also Dr. Drapal, the postdoc for RTB crops at RHUL, were also presenting research. Throughout the five days we split up in an attempt to cover as many of the workshops as possible and then shared notes over dinner each evening. Aside from our focus on crops, highlights ranged from studies on the vocal learning in birds to uncover the evolution of speech to discussion upon the ethics and regulations of cattle breeding.

PAG XXIV was intense and draining, racing around to explore as much cutting-edge science on show and trying to understand work on crops to cattle and everything in-between. I am hugely grateful to have had the opportunity to see the world of science related to my PhD studies and encourage others to make use of the Travel Awards on offer at Royal Holloway University of London.