Introducing GRIN-U: Online learning for plant genetic resources conservation

[AndrewB]

From: Kinard, Gary <@usda.gov>
Sent: Monday, July 25, 2022 9:28:09 AM (UTC-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)

Subject: Introducing GRIN-U to GRIN-Global subscribers

Greetings GRIN-Global subscribers:


We want to inform you about a new application called GRIN-U that is part of the GRIN family. GRIN-U provides open access to online educational and training content about plant genetic resources (PGR) conservation and use.  The site contains visual (videos, virtual tours) and printed (e-books, infographics, manuals) materials on a variety of topics related to PGR management and plant genebank operations.



GRIN-U can be accessed at GRIN-U – Online learning for plant genetic resources conservation and use , and there is also a link to the site from both the GRIN home page and the GRIN-Global main search page. There is a free subscription feature for GRIN-U, prominently displayed in the menu, that is separate from the GRIN-Global subscription.  We intend to send approximately quarterly updates about new GRIN-U content.



GRIN-U was launched as part of a competitive grant awarded to ARS, Colorado State University, and Iowa State University by the USDA National Institutes of Food and Agriculture. As part of evaluating the impact of the grant, you may be contacted in the future by our educational research team about your usage of and experiences with GRIN-U.



We also want to inform you about a set of online courses that can be taken for academic credit or non-credit professional development. Colorado State University will offer three 1-credit graduate level courses on plant genetic resources in Fall semester, 2022. The courses will be taught by plant geneticist Dr. Geoff Morris, and will deal with (1) the origins and structure of plant genetic diversity; (2) the principles and methods for conserving that diversity; and (3) strategies for identifying useful variation in genetic resources and delivering it to stakeholders. The lectures for Course 2, relating to plant genebanking practices, were developed and will be delivered by Dr. Gayle Volk (USDA-ARS). The courses are available to both U.S. and international enrollees. Course descriptions, costs, and registration information are available at http://pgrcourse.colostate.edu/. Registration is open for the courses.



Regards-



Gary





Gary R. Kinard

USDA-ARS

Research Leader

National Germplasm Resources Laboratory

Beltsville, Maryland

301-504-5951 (voice)

[Steph S]

Those courses sound interesting, especially the third one. 
Thanks for sharing this, Andrew.

[Klaus Brugger]

Thanks Andrew, this is very valuable information!