Seminars, Workshops and Events

The Plant and Agricultural Biosciences Research Centre maintains an active seminar, workshop and events series. Researchers, students and all interested in Plant and Agricultural Biosciences research, training and innovation are welcome to attend. PABC scientists and researchers also engage in conferences, events and meetings in Ireland and internationally.

4th September 2019: Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 1200-1300: Ryan Institute PABC Seminar on "Plant biofactories for the production of recombinant proteins" by Dr. Rita Abranches, ITQB Uni. Nova de Lisboa.

4th April 2019: Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 1300-1400: Ryan Institute PABC Seminar on "Differential protein degradation by the N-end rule pathway during plant/pathogen interactions" by Dr. Emmanuelle Graciet, Maynooth University, Ireland.

12th February 2019: Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 1200-1300: Ryan Institute PABC Seminar on "Genomic selection: a tool for crop improvement" by Dr. Julio Isidro Sánchez, School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland.

12th February 2018: Ryan Institute Plant & AgriBiosciences Centre (PABC) Research Seminar by Prof. Martin Hagemann, University of Rostock, Germany on "Acclimation of cyanobacteria to limiting CO2 amounts: photorespiration, inroganic carbon sensing and synthetic biology approaches". @10.30-11.30

23rd January 2018: NUIG Policy Lab Seminar by Ed Knapp on “A spatial and geoclimatic analysis of grass growth in Ireland”. NUI Galway AM207 @ 09.00

22nd January 2018: Ryan Institute Plant & AgriBiosciences Centre (PABC) / Centre for Chromosome Biology / School of Natural Sciences research seminar by Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Nuetzmann, University of Bath, UK on "Gene order associated chromatin signatures in plant genomes". @ 13.00-14.00 in Seminar Room 214 in Orbsen Building, NUI Galway.

6th December 2017: Ryan Institute Plant & AgriBiosciences Centre (PABC) PhD Seminar on “Improving maternal & child nutrition in Malawi using biofortified crops” by Marijke Hummel, Structured PhD Plant & AgriBiosciences student, PABC, NUI Galway. @ 1600 Wednesday 6th December in Seminar Room 214 in Orbsen Building, NUI Galway.

6th December 2017: Ryan Institute Plant & AgriBiosciences Centre (PABC) - Microbiology Research Seminar on "Interactions of modern plant cultivars with the soil food web and rhizosphere biology" by Prof Bryan Griffiths, Chair in Soil Ecology at SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College). @ 0900 Wednesday 6th December in Dunican Lecture Theatre, NUI Galway.

5th December 2017: Ryan Institute Plant & AgriBiosciences Centre (PABC) - Microbiology PhD Seminar on "Investigations into soil microbiome stability in the face of agriculture and climate change related perturbations" by Camilla Thorn, NUI Galway. @ 0900 Tuesday 5th December in Dunican Lecture Theatre, NUI Galway.

11th Sept 2017: Ryan Institute Plant & AgriBiosciences Centre (PABC) Research Seminar on Molecular Pharming for Health, Nutrition & Bioenergy by Prof. Elizabeth Hood, BioBased Solutions Consortium, Arkansas State University, USA.

4th Sept 2017: Annual MScCCAFS Program Research Conference, ILAS Lecture Theatre, NUI Galway from 08.30-18.00. Sixteen exciting research presentations on MScCCAFS research project theses conducted with PABC partner organisations in Ireland, Italy, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Malawi.

15th June 2017: PABC PhD researcher Zewdy Gebremedhin is invited speaker in webinar on Gender, Climate Change and Agriculture hosted by the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security’s Gender and Social Inclusion unit and the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research. Thursday, June 15, 2017 3:30 pm Europe Summer Time (Amsterdam, GMT+02:00)

13th June 2017: Ryan Institute Plant & AgriBiosciences Centre (PABC) - Microbiology Invited Speaker Seminar on “Investigating functional secretion systems available in plant-transforming bacteria” by Dr. Manuel Lopez Vernaza, Crop Biotechnology, Maynooth University, Ireland. Tuesday 13th June 2017 @ 12.00 in Dunican Theatre, NUI Galway.

13th June 2017: PABC Participation in FACCE-JPI/GRA National Steering Group meeting, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Dublin.

8th June 2017: PABC PhD researcher Eduardo March gives talk “CONFUSO is essential for Shoot Apical Meristem (SAM) development in Arabidopsis” at Irish Plant Scientists Association Meeting (IPSAM-2017), Limerick IT.

30 May 2017: PABC participation in Yield Lab Ireland launch of 2017 Portfolio, where Yield Lab is investing €100,000 in funding and access to its accelerator programme for four selected companies. Portershed, Galway.

23 May 2017: PABC PhD Research Seminar Presentations Day.

12 May 2017: FarmEye Stakeholder Workshop. NUI Galway agri spin-out FarmEye led by Dr. Chaosheng Zhang has developed new software with mobile phone application and web-based decision support system for farmers and farm-advisors.

24-28 April: PABC hosts major international conference in NUI Galway on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security: Where is the cutting edge? in partnership with global CCAFS program.

6 April 2017: Lecture on Making Climate Finance Work in Agriculture by Dr. Alberto Millan, Climate Financing Specialist, Global Food & Agriculture Practice (GFADR), The World Bank, Washington DC, USA.

27 March 2017: PABC participation in Elsevier 2nd Agriculture and Climate Change Conference, Sitges, Spain.

8 March 2017: PABC project on gender empowerment of smallholder women farmers in Malawi is presented at the IFPRI GAAP2 International Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

6 March 2017: PABC participation in meeting with International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Irish Aid, Hatch Street, Dublin.

3 March 2017: PABC PhD students meet Minister Simon Coveney, Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.

2nd March 2017: PABC participation in GRCAS Committee meeting, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Backweston, Dublin.

20th February 2017: VICCI meeting, Teagasc OakPark, Carlow.

10th February 2017: PABC participation in DFG meeting on ECOFE network, Bonn, Germany.

31st Jan 2017: PABC PhD student Marijke Hummel presents PABC research with CIP on “Consumer acceptability of OFSP in Malawi among households with children between 2-5 years old” to SPHI 4th annual meeting: Accelerating OFSP value chain development for nutrition and livelihoods in Africa, 1-3rd March 2017, Kenya.

30th January 2017: IFIAD Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Working Group meeting, Gorta Self-Help Africa, Dublin.

13th January 2017: PABC organises AgriBiosciences Careers Day as part of Structured PhD Plant & AgriBiosciences and Structured MSc (Agrobioscences).

16th December 2016: Research visit to PABC of Prof. Danny Geelen, Uni of Ghent, Belgium.

1st Dec 2016: Former PABC PhD student Gezahegn Tessema wins prestigious award from Ministry of Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) at the U Thant International Conference Hall, United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan.

3rd December 2016: PABC meeting with Ambassador Aine Hearns, Malawi regarding NUI Galway agri research for development projects underway in Malawi.

24th Nov 2016: PABC scientist’s attend meeting of DAFM launch of National Climate Change Adaptation Plan for the Agricultural Sector in Portlaoise, Ireland.

22 November 2016: PABC Participation in FACCE-JPI/GRA National Steering Group meeting, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Dublin.

13 October 2016: NUI Galway PABC is founding member of the Irish Forum for International Agricultural Development (IFIAD). Launch event in RDS, Dublin.

5th-6th Oct 2016: Research teams of Prof. Spillane and Dr. Sulpice attend the 2016 VICCI Meeting in Teagasc Oakpark.

4th Oct 2016 : PABC PhD student Marijke Hummel presents PABC research conducted in Malawi in partnership with CIAT, CIP and Concern on acceptability of biofortified crops amongst rural communities at the National Stakeholders Meeting on Biofortified Crops in Malawi held in SunBird Lilongwe Hotel.

4th October 2016: Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 1200-1300: PABC Seminar on "Microbial mobilization of soil phosphorus and sulfur promotes plant growth in soils under biochar amendment" by Dr. Achim Schmalenberger,
Environmental Microbiology Research Group, Department of Life Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland.

15 September 2016: Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 1300-1400: PABC Seminar on “Medical marijuana in Canada: Scientific & policy innovations” by Dr. Shane Morris, Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Stakeholder Relations, Hydropothecary, Québec, Canada.

2 September 2016: MScCCAFS Annual Research Conference on Climate-Smart Agriculture. Presentations by Dr. Andy Jarvis (CCAFS) and on the MScCCAFS (2015-2016) student research projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Peru, Colombia, Italy and Ireland.

23rd August 2016: Energy in Agriculture 2016 Conference, Gurteen Agricultural College, Ballingarry, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. Free registration.

10-12 August 2016: NUI Galway Livestock Waste Conference (organised by Dr. Xinmin Zhan from PABC) at new Engineering Building, National University of Ireland Galway.

15th July 2016: PABC investment partner The Yield Lab USA (an agri-technology accelerator investment fund) announced the establishment of its first operation in Europe, i.e. The Yield Lab Galway. Yield Lab Galway plans to invest in eight to 12 agri-technology startups over the next two years. Each will receive €100,000 and participate in a 12-month mentoring and business development program. The Yield Lab made the announcement in the Portershed, Galway at the Agtech & Plant Science Innovation Seminar which was attended by the US Ambassador and a 34 member Innovation Delegation from St Louis, USA. WebLink to Announcement.

13th July 2016: NUI Galway Plant & AgriBiosciences Research Centre (PABC) enters into Strategic Research & Education Alliance with Teagasc on Carbon-Neutral Agri-Innovation.

28th June 2016: Engineering NUI Galway student Patrick Costello and GMIT student Brian Melia are finalists in the 2016 Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards ceremony and received a merit award for their design of a novel farm safety device.

27th June 2016: MicroSoc Seminar, Dunican Theatre @ 13.00 - Dr. Leighton Pritchard, James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland: “Little Rotters! Adventures with plant pathogenic enterobacteria”.

26 May 2016: PABC Research Presentations Event, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 13.0-18.00. Eleven short presentations by researchers from PABC research groups on:

Spatial Economics Marginal Agriculture: Stephen Conroy (Stephen Hynes / Cathal O’Donoghue)
Soil meta-genomics: Camilla Thorn (& Florence Abram)
Soils: Matthias Waibel (& Fiona Brennan)
Field sensors for crop flooding: Melanie Thomas (& Charles Spillane)
Seed Priming: Sara Farrona
FarmEye: Vincent Upton (& Chaozheng Zhang)
Robotic Weeding: Esmael Hamuda (& Ed Jones / Martin Glavin)
Plant growth phenotyping: Marcus McHale (& Charles Spillane)
Sugar Beet Genetics: Brendan Hallahan (& Charles Spillane)
Milk Glycomics: Marie Le Berre (& Lokesh Joshi)
GreenFarm: Yan Jiang (& Zinmin Zhan)

4th April 2016: BotSoc Seminar, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 19.00 - Dr. Yilang Ding, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, U.K.: In vivo RNA structure profiling: A transformative platform reveals a new way to regulate gene expression.

24th March 2016: Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 11.00 - Dr. Aline Probst, CNRS UMR6293 - INSERM U1103 - GReD, Clermont University, Campus Universitaire des Cézeaux, France: Histone deposition in plants controlled by a histone chaperone network.

22nd March 2016: PABC/CCAFS Invited talk, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 12.30-13.30 - Dr. Boru Douthwaite, Innovation & Impact Director, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Cali, Colombia: Theory of Change and Results-Based Management in Agricultural Research Programmes: Opportunities and Dangers.

9th March 2016: DairyWater Project Workshop, CA107 – Lecture Hall 3 in the Cairns Building, NUI Galway - Environmental experts, from both the Irish dairy processing industry and Irish research institutes, presented on a number of current challenges that face the Irish dairy processing industry, particularly related to water and wastewater treatment efficiencies. Additionally, researchers within the DairyWater project presented their research activities to date and its potential impact for industry.

1st March 2016: BotSoc Seminar, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 19.00 - Prof. Lars Ostergaard, Department of Crop genetics, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, U.K.: Symmetry matters in gynoecium development.

24 February 2016: PABC/CCAFS Invited talk, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 1400-1700 - Earnan O'Cleirigh, Irish Aid: Climate change, agriculture and inclusive economic growth.

19th February 2016: PABC Seminar, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 11.00 - Prof. John Dalton, School of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast: Integrating '-omics' data in the search for vaccines against the animal and human worm parasite Fasciola hepatica (liver fluke).

24th November 2015: BotSoc Seminar, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 19.00 Dr. Ewen Mullins, Senior research officer: Teagasc Oak Park, Carlow, Ireland: Securing commercial potato production against the global pathogen, Phytophtera: Is genetic engineering a sustainable option?

1st November 2015: BotSoc Seminar, Seminar Room (ADB-2018) Aras de Brun @ 19.00 Dr. Geraint Parry, GARNet Coordinator, Cardiff University: Peering through the Plant Nuclear Pore (and falling out the other side).

6th October 2015: NUI Galway Botany Society invited speaker Dr. Isabelle Colas, James Hutton Institute, Scotland: Title: Meiosis in cereal crops: Dreams of a cereal killer. Refreshments 18.30 followed by talk at 19.00.

8th September 2015: Dr. Emmanuelle Graciet (NUI Maynooth) hosts the 2nd Irish Arabidopsis meeting in NUI Maynooth.

4th September 2015: PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Wendy LuMcGill, PABC, NUI Galway: Edible insects for human food and animal feed.

4th September 2015: PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Dr. Charles Midega, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Kenya: Title (TBC).

7th August 2015: Prof. Paul Vlek, NUI Galway Adjunct Professor of Tropical Agriculture visits PABC. Hosts: Prof. Charles Spillane & Dr. Rico Kongsager.

22nd June 2015: Presentation on SNS/PABC research trip to Brazil by Drs. Sara Farrona, Fiona Brennan, Peter McKeown.

15th June 2015: PABC Presentation & Discussion on Agriculture & Bioenergy by Dr. Petronia Carillo, Seconda University of Naples. host Dr. Ronan Sulpice. Topics included: (a) Use of agricultural residues for energy: a controversial issue; (b) Lignocellulosic biomass potential and limitations; (c) Cropping bioenergy in marginal lands.

27th April 2015: PABC Seminar on ‘Biogas from Irish Seaweed: Assessment of an Integrated Biorefinery Approach’ by Dr. Silvia Tedesco, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University. Hosts: Prof Vincent O’Flaherty & Prof. Charles Spillane.

21 April 2015: Seminar by Prof. Mark Aarts, Laboratory of Genetics, Plant Sciences Group, Wageningen University, Netherlands: Zinc deficiency response and heavy metal hyperaccumulation: two sides of the same coin. Host: NUIG Botany Student Society (Peter Ryder).

23rd March 2015: PABC/MScCCAFS Seminar on ‘IIEA's work on Climate Change & Energy’ by Prof. Tom Arnold, Director General, Institute of International & European Affairs (IIEA), Dublin, Ireland. Hosts: Dr. Edna Curley & Prof. Charles Spillane.

11th March 2015: PABC/MScCCAFS Seminar on ‘Low carbon agriculture in Ireland’, by Dr. Rogier Schulte, TEAGASC, Johnstown Castle, Ireland. Hosts: Dr. Edna Curley & Prof. Charles Spillane.

4th March 2015: PABC/MScCCAFS Seminar on ‘Climate change challenges & opportunities for Irish jobs, enterprise and innovation’ by Dr. Jonathan Healy, Senior Economist / Assistant Principal R&D, Enterprise Surveys and Climate Change Unit, Strategic Policy Division, Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation. Hosts: Dr. Edna Curley & Prof. Charles Spillane.

27th February 2015: PABC Research Meet-up Event, Áras de Brún.

23rd February 2015: Seminar on ‘AGPs cross-talk in Arabidopsis Pollen-pistil interactions’, Dr. Silvia Coimbra, Dept. Biology, Uni. Porto. Host: NUIG Botany Student Society.

4th February 2015: PABC/MScCCAFS Seminar on ‘Transitioning to a low carbon bioeconomy’ by Dr. J.J. Leahy, Carbolea, University of Limerick, Ireland. Hosts: Dr. Edna Curley & Prof. Charles Spillane.

25 November 2014: PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 1200 - Prof. Jim Haseloff, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK: Plant Synthetic Biology - The New Frontier.

17 November 2014: PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 1500 - Prof. Rodomiro Ortiz, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden: Plant Genetic Engineering, Climate Change and Food Security.

20 October 2014: PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 1000 - Prof. Maria Laene M. de Carvalho, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Brazil: Strengthening the research and training partnerships between NUI Galway and UFLA.

17 October 2014: PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 1300 - Prof. Wagner Araujo, Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil: Identification of novel players involved in the regulation of metabolism in plant mitochondria

20 June 2014: NUI Galway PABC hosts the 1st Irish Arabidopsis Meeting. Fifteen Arabidopsis researchers from NUIG, TCD, UCD and UCC present their latest research using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

20 June 2014: PABC/BPS/SNS Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Prof. Emmanuelle Isakidis-Bourguet,
Institut de Biotechnology des Plantes, Orsay, Paris, France.

13 May 2014: PABC/SNS Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Prof. Howard-Yana Shapiro, Mars Inc. USA & African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC): Stunting, Chronic Hunger & Malnutrition: Uncommon Collaborations on African Orphan Crops.

20 February 2014: The NUI Galway Research Office in conjunction with the Plant and AgriBiosciences Research Centre (PABC, www.plantagbiosciences.org) hosts an Agricultural Research Showcasing Event combined with 1-2-1 meetings with Dale Crammond (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine) – National Contact Point for Horizon2020 Food, Agriculture, Fisheries, and Biotechnology.

30 January 2014, PABC/SNS Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Prof. Chris Bowler, Institut de Biologie de l'École Normale Supérieure ( IBENS), CNRS, Paris, France: Metagenomics-assisted understanding of global diatom community diversity from the Tara Oceans expedition (2009-2012)

11 December 2013, PABC/SNS Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Prof. Rob Martienssen, Cold Spring Harbor Lab (CSHL) and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), USA.

15 July 2013, Invited Seminar IT125 @ 14.00. Dr. Pasha Baranov (LAPTI, UCC): Ribo-Seq: The Hubble Telescope for Gene Expression.

19-20 June 2013, NUI Galway PABC-UC Davis NSF IGERT CREATE PhD Training Workshop on Plant Biosciences Policies and Regulatory Affairs. BPS Seminar Room C315.

13 June 2013, PABC Lecture, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 14.00 - Padraic Flood, Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands: Natural Genetic Variation in Arabidopsis Photosynthesis.

16-17 May 2013, Irish Plant Scientists Association Meeting (IPSAM 2013) hosted by NUI Galway. Keynote speakers Prof. Liam Dolan (Uni of Oxford) and Prof. Bob Crawford (Uni of St Andrews).

25 March 2013, PABC Lecture, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Prof. Beatriz Urbano, University of Valladolid, Spain: Social and economic aspects of "on farm" conservation of genetic resources.

25 March 2013, PABC Lecture, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Prof. Fernando Gonzalez-Andres, University of Leon, Spain: Characterisation of genetic resources for conservation: The search for descriptors in minority crops.

27 February 2013, Botany Society Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 19.00 - Dr. Tim Sharbel, Apomixis Research, IPK Gatersleben, Germany: Seeds without sex: The development of apomixis technology for sustainable agriculture.

21 February 2013, PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 13.30-14.30- John Weakliam, Chief Executive, VITA, Ireland: Research into use for improved human livelihoods: VITA's agricultural activities in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

17 January 2013, PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 @ 11.45-13.00 - Dr Ewen Mullins, TEAGASC Oak Park, Carlow, Ireland: Genetically engineered blight tolerant potato varieties in Ireland: Field assessment of a cisgenic potato variety modified with resistance to potato late blight disease.

14 January 2013, PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Prof. Ian Graham, Chair of Biochemical Genetics, Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (CNAP), Dept of Biology, University of York, UK: Realising the potential of high value chemicals from plants: Top quality research with impact in the award winning Centre for Novel Agricultural Products.

5 Nov 2012, PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 - Dr. John Spink, Head of Department of Crop Research, TEAGASC Oak Park, Carlow, Ireland: Crop research in TEAGASC OakPark.

20 Sept 2012, BPS Seminar, BPS Seminar Room C315 17.00 - Prof. Alexandra Antunes Mastroberti (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil): Organisation, Perspectives and Research Lines into Plant Anatomy. Host: Dr. Zoe Popper.

16 May 2012, PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room 14.00 - Dr. Fuquan Liu (School of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Northern Ireland): Arabidopsis genetics reveals a co-transcriptional role of Dicer (DCL-4) in transcription termination.

24 February 2012, PABC Seminar, BPS Seminar Room 10.30-11.30 - Prof. Alan McHughen (Policy Analyst, White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, USA): GMOs; An International Trade Train Wreck.

23 February 2012, Botany Society Talk, BPS Seminar Room 19.00 - Prof. Alison Smith, (Dept of Plant Sciences, Cambridge University, UK): Algal-bacterial symbiosis – how studying vitamin metabolism might be good for algal bioenergy production.

9 February 2012, PABC AgroBiodiversity Theme hosts AgBioDiv2012 the 1st AgroBiodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use Conference in NUI Galway. Nineteen international and national speakers over 1 day.

7 February 2012, Botany Society Talk, BPS Seminar Room 19.00 - Prof. Liam Dolan (Dept of Plant Science, Oxford University, UK): Past, present and future uses of plants.

1 February 2012, BPS Seminar Room 15.30-16.30 - Paul Wagstaff (Concern Worldwide): Conservation agriculture, smallholder farmers and poverty reduction.

25 January 2012, BPS Seminar Room 12.30-13.30 - Dr. Jim Lorenzen (International Institute for Tropical Agriculture IITA, Tanzania): Breeding of East African Highland bananas - Challenges and opportunities for Sub-Saharan Africa.

15 December 2011, BPS Seminar Room @ 09.30 - Dr. Herve Vanderschuren (Plant Biotechnology Group, ETH Zurich, Switzerland): The BioCassava Plus Program: Biofortification of Cassava for Sub-Saharan Africa.

12 December 2011, BPS Seminar Room @ 11.00 - Dr. Ronan Sulpice (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany): Optimal growth: not just what you assimilate, but also how/when/where you use it.

12 December 2011, BPS Seminar Room - Dr. Melissa Pentony (Purugganan Lab of Evolutionary Genomics, New York University, USA): Evolutionary genomics of gene families in rice and Arabidopsis.

7 December 2011, BPS Seminar Room - Prof. David MacHugh (Animal Genomics Laboratory, University College Dublin, Ireland): Archeogenomics of domestic cattle.

28 October 2011, BPS Seminar Room @ 10.00 - Dr. Tamas Dalmay (Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK): Reducing bias of small RNA high-throughput sequencing.

12 September 2011, BPS Seminar Room: PABC Microalgal Mini- Symposium

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Jonathan Gressel (Transalgae Ltd, Israel): Transgenically-enhanced marine pico-algae: the feed and fuel of the future

+ microalgal presentations/overviews by Dr. Dagmar Stengel, Prof Charles Spillane, Simrat Kaur, Dr. Maria Tuohy and Dr. Zoe Popper.

31 August 2011, BPS Seminar Room 15.00 - Dr. Emidio Albertini (Uni of Perugia, Italy): Seeds without sex: Understanding apomixis genetics.

19 April 2011, BPS Seminar Room 19.00 - Prof Paul Knox (Centre for Plant Cell Wall Biology, University of Leeds, UK): "Molecular Probes for Plant Cell Wall Biology".

12 April 2011, BPS Seminar Room 13.30-14.30 - Dr. Ewen Mullins (TEAGASC, OakPark, Carlow): "GM Crops & Future Agri-Environmental Challenges facing Ireland".

31 March 2011, BPS Seminar Room 11.00-12.00 - Dr. Michael Mullen (TEAGASC, Athenry): "Current Applications of Domestic Animal Genomics in TEAGASC".

29 March 2011, BPS Seminar Room 18.30-20.00 - Prof. David S. Domozych (Dept of Biology, Skidmore College USA): Unraveling the mysteries of the plant cell wall: Charophycean Green Algae and the evolution of wall polymers.

11 February 2011, BPS Seminar Room 16:00 - Margareta Pertl (Independent Botanical Artist, Dublin): "Botanical Illustration — an introduction to botanical painting and drawing". Margareta's talk will be followed by a practical demonstration of botanical illustration.

January 2011, BPS Seminar Room - Dr. Suresh Balasubramanian (School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Australia): "Polynucleotide repeat expansions and phenotypic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana".

16 December 2010, BPS Seminar Room - Dr. Adrian Brennan ( School of Biology, Uni St Andrews, Scotland): "Hybrid speciation studies in Senecio (ragworts)" .

3 December 2010, BPS Seminar Room 12.00 - Dr. Darach Lupton (National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin): "The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland and its Role in national and international plant conservation".

5 November 2010, BPS Seminar Room, - Dr. Alison Donnelly & Hazel Proctor ( Phenology Research Group, Botany Department, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland): " Phenology and the phenology gardens network".

22 October 2010, BPS Seminar Room at 13.10 - Dr. GB Sunil Kumar (School of Biology & Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Ireland): "Plant-based molecular farming for vaccines and adjuvants".

13 October 2010, BPS Seminar Room at 11.00 - Dirk Vandenhirtz (CEO of LemnaTec GmbH, Germany): "Phenomics and the future of high-throughput plant phenotyping".

11 October 2010, BPS Seminar Room 13.00 - Dr. Danny Hunter ( Bioversity International, Rome, Italy): " Agrobiodiversity, human nutrition and food security".

11 October 2010, BPS Seminar Room 15.30 - Dr. Tatsuo Kanno (Botany and Plant Science, NUI Galway, Ireland): "Genetics of RNA-directed DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana". (with Centre for Chromosome Biology, NUI Galway).

1 October 2010, BPS Seminar Room 11.00 - Dr. Tamaru Hunt-Joshi ( Dept of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, USA): "Control of purple loosestrife, an invasive plant in the USA".