Announcements

Appointments:

Ren Wang , a Chinese national, has been appointed Director, CGIAR. Mr. Wang has served since 2000 as Deputy Director General for Research at the CGIAR-supported International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), with headquarters in the Philippines. In that position, he managed the Institute’s research programs and outreach offices in 14 countries, providing leadership in the development of IRRI’s strategic plan and in the creation of new collaborative initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia. Dr. Wang will take up his new position in July 2007.

Colin Chartres , who holds joint Australian/British nationality, has been appointed Director General of IWMI. Dr. Chartres has most recently been the Chief Science Adviser at the National Water Commission, Canberra, Australia. He will join IWMI at the end of September.

Lakshmi Menon has been appointed as Deputy Director General Research for Development Support, IITA, and will start in August 2007.

The Genetic Resources Policy Committee recently completed a strategic renewal of its membership. Five new members and a new FAO observer have been appointed. Click here for the Committee members' resumés.

The CGIAR Private Sector Committee (PSC) was recently renewed with the appointment of five new members, completing its membership of eight. The CGIAR Chair appoints PSC members, in consultation with past PSC members and the CGIAR Membership. Click here for the PSC members' bios.

Honors:

• Dr Monty Jones has been voted among the world's most influential people by the USTime magazine for his New Rice for Africa (NERICA) breakthrough achieved during his tenure at the Africa Rice Center (WARDA). Dr Jones is one of just five Africans on this year's Time list of 100 names.
• Eugenio "Eugene" C. Castro, Jr. , associate scientist in the Training Center at IRRI, was named the Philippine Society of Agricultural Engineers (PSAE) Most Outstanding Agricultural Engineer (Maramba Awardee) 2007, for his remarkable performance and meritorious contributions to the advancement of agriculture and industry and promotion of the agricultural engineering profession in the Philippines.
• Esther Mwangi , a native of Kenya and, a postdoctoral fellow with the CGIAR system-wide program on Collective Action and Property Rights ( CAPRi) based at IFPRI, has been selected as one of the Harvard University Center for the Environment (HUCE) Environmental Fellows Prior to joining IFPRI in 2007, Dr. Mwangi was a consultant to the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF).
• An Iowa City High School student is among 13 students selected to conduct eight weeks of research at leading agricultural centers around the world. Anna Johnson was announced as one of the students selected for an all-expenses-paid Borlaug-Ruan International Internship, in which she will spend time at facilities of the International Rice Research Institute in Manila, Philippines, and Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• In Hanoi, Dr. Bui Ba Bong, vice-minister of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), presented an award to IRRI Deputy Director General for Research Ren Wang in recognition of his contributions to the Vietnamese agricultural sector.
  

Fellowships:

The 2007 IFAR grants were awarded to thirteen promising scientists from 10 countries in Africa, and East, South and Central Asia. The scientists will be hosted at CIP, CIMMYT, ICRISAT, ILRI, IITA, Bioversity International, IRRI, IWMI and World Agroforestry Centre. The 2007 awardees (in alphabetical order) andt their topics of research are as follows:

Timur Abdurakhmanov , Uzbekistan: Enhancing the resistance of potato to abiotic stresses, using natural plant stimulators, with the International Potato Center (CIP).

Muhammad Yusuf Ali, Bangladesh: Strategic biophysical and soioeconomic assessment of current and future rice-maize systems in Asia, including an in-depth country assessment for Bangladesh, with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

S. Anitha, India: Impact of dietary exposure to aflatoxins on hepatocellular carcinoma in India, with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).

Kassaye Aragaw , Ethiopia: Identification of best anthelmintic type for strategic control of helminthes and evaluation of the economic advantage of strategic de-worming of sheep owned by smallholders in the central highlands of Ethiopia, with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Papa Madiallacke Diedhiou, Senegal : Comparative aflatoxin-producing potential of Aspergillus strains isolated from maize and sesame in Senegal, with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Beloved Mensah Dzomeku, Ghana: Measuring the impact of IARC and NARS development projects for clean seed multiplication and new cultivars of banana and plantain, with Bioversity International.

Ana Gulbani, Georgia: Testing potato resistance to late blight or Phytophtora infestans in Georgia, with the International Potato Center (CIP).

Enamul Hoque , Bangladesh: Pyramiding of genes for resistance to bacterial blight and blast in Bangladesh rice cultivars, using marker-assisted selection, with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Madina Khalmirzaeva , Uzbekistan (Wilfried Thalwitz Memorial Scholarship): Study of the formation and evaluation of collector-drainage water for re-use in irrigation, with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Huihui Li, China: Genetic study of quantitative traits in breeding, with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

James Kinyua Mutegi, Kenya: Evaluation of the effects of land use/land-use change on greenhouse gas emissions and soil nutrient transformation in Western Kenya, with the World Agroforestry Centre.

Moses Wabomba Nyongesa, Kenya: Integrated strategies for management of potato late blight in farmers’ fields in Kenya , with the International Potato Center (CIP).

Saidakhon Shadmanova , Uzbekistan ( Ravi Tadvalkar Memorial Scholarship): Identifying barriers to ground-water use for irrigation in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan,with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Opportunities:

CIMMYT DIRECTOR GENERAL

CIMMYT is seeking a Director General who has a strategic outlook and can build high performing research teams by creating a culture that is committed to both research excellence and impact. Click here for the details of this vacancy.

Applications for SP2 Leader: Closed call to Consortium members

GCP invites applications for a Leader for our Subprogramme 2 (SP2) on Comparative genomics for gene discovery. This is not an open call: the SP2 leader must be from a member institution of the GCP Consortium. Closing date for receiving applications is 18 th June 2007. Job description and application process

Save the Dates for Future CGIAR Meetings

• ExCo 13 will be held October 16-17 in Rome, Italy.
• AGM07 will be held on December 3-6 in Beijing, China.