The T-CAP project was launched January 16, 2011 at the Plant and Animal Genome conference in San Diego, CA. USDA-NIFA director Roger Beachy opened the meeting by providing the group the long-term vision of NIFA and emphasizing the importance of delivering concrete outcomes in addition to scientific information. He was very enthusiastic about the project and the wide participation of the barley and wheat communities throughout the USA.

The meeting was attended by more than 75 participants, including 40 funded members of the T-CAP project, USDA personnel, members of the scientific advisory board, the education evaluation team, the industry liaison group, international collaborators from Canada, UK, Australia and Israel, several graduate students, and barley and wheat breeders and researchers not directly funded by the project but that are participating in different research and education activities.

After an overview of the research and educational objectives, and three scientific presentations on drought, nitrogen use efficiency and canopy spectral reflectance the group was divided into 7 working groups to discuss the technical aspects of the implementation of the different activities. This was followed by reports of the conclusions from each group to the entire group, and closed with feedback from the scientific advisory board. Exciting scientific discussions continued for two additional hours after the meeting!

In summary, a very productive meeting and a good start for this important project,

Gary Muhelbauer and Jorge Dubcovsky
Project Directors

Some presentations featured at the meeting can be downloaded from these external links:

• Project overview (presented by Jorge Dubcovsky, UC Davis)
• T-CAP Education (Jamie Sherman, Montana State University)
• Nitrogen Use Efficiency (Brian Arnall, Oklahoma State University)