Call for Nominations for 
8th I.E. Melhus Graduate Student Symposium

The APS Epidemiology Committee is sponsoring the 8th I.E. Melhus Graduate Student Symposium at the 2008 APS Centennial Meeting in Minneapolis, MN. The symposium entitled “Forty-Five Years After Van Der Plank, New Visions for the Future of Plant Disease Epidemiology” will feature four to six presentations on graduate thesis work highlighting research aimed at providing a better understanding of the epidemiology and management of plant diseases. All graduate students with relevant significant work are invited to apply. To attract as many applications as possible from APS student members (and potential members), the APS Epidemiology Committee wishes to define eligible research topics in the broadest possible senses. Topics quantifying the temporal and/or spatial dynamics of plant disease epidemics, population genetics in relation to delaying resistance to pesticides and/or maximizing the durability of host resistance to plant pathogens and/or their vectors, quantifying the impacts of plant disease epidemics on yield and quality, and the development of new models and methods to assess disease risk. Finally, is there anything that we can do differently in agriculture to limit the introduction of new plant pathogens? These are complex questions that involve the interaction of host and pathogen populations as affected by the environment. The presentations will be 30 minutes in length and will be selected on the basis of the significance of the contribution to new understanding in the area of epidemiology and plant disease management.

Speakers for the symposium will be chosen by an adhoc selection committee chaired by Forrest W. Nutter, Jr., Iowa State University. The committee will consist of members of the APS Epidemiology Committee and one APS division councilor. Applicants must either be currently enrolled as a graduate student or have completed their graduate program within 12 months of the 2008 APS Centennial Meeting. The deadline for applications is Friday, January 11, 2008.

Applications and letters of recommendation (seven copies) should be submitted to Forrest W. Nutter, Jr., Department of Plant Pathology, 351Bessey Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1020. Applications must contain:

1) A written description (maximum of five single-spaced, typed pages excluding tables and figures with 12-pt font) of the goals, methodology, results, and significance of the applicant’s thesis research, AND

2) Two letters of nomination, one of which must be from the applicant’s major professor. Letters of nomination must include an evaluation of the applicant’s research and the ability of the student to present their research in a clear and effective manner.

Invited speakers will win a financial award toward the cost of travel. Speakers must be APS members at the time awards are made. Travel award funds are being provided by the APS Foundation from the I.E. Melhus Fund. I. E. Melhus, a plant disease epidemiologist, was a renowned teacher, innovative researcher, and outstanding administrator at Iowa State College. Melhus served as president of APS in 1926 and was elected a fellow of APS in 1965.
 

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